


Wicked

by pbisnotlily



Category: Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bandom crossover, Crossover, DEMA (Twenty One Pilots), Pray For The Wicked, Religious Cult, The Youngblood Chronicles - Freeform, cult members - Freeform, jumpsuit, nico and the niners, say amen (saturday night), trench
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2019-09-14 16:22:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 55,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16916244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pbisnotlily/pseuds/pbisnotlily
Summary: When Josh sees his best friend Tyler being tormented by a strange force, he seeks help from a group of paranormal researchers named "Defenders of Faith". Meanwhile, a cult member from LA gets a hold of the legendary key that can change their world.(This is a crossover between the fictional worlds created by Panic! At The Disco, twenty one pilots and Fall Out Boy - not the real life people. Suspension of belief might be needed.)





	1. The Key.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic here. Also my first one in English - if you spot typos or grammar errors, please advise. If you think I need to add different tags tell me about it. Opinions are welcome, might not be followed though.  
> Suspension of belief super needed - I just thought it would be fun to intersect their fictional worlds in one story. Since these are not the real people, but their fictional personas, a lot of details and facts were thrown out of the window.  
> If at least someone has fun with it, I'll be happy.

 

“We are hearing reports” the news caster said, in a heavy accent “that overnight an ancient Mayan artifact known as the ‘Devil’s Key’ was stolen from the Melbourne Museum of History…”

The woman kept talking about the inestimable value of the stolen item, but Tyler was into a heavy sleep and no part of his brain was picking up on that. He forgot the TV on again and now his cat was deeply entertained by it, but Tyler himself was turning around in bed.

In his dream, he was running. This dream was different than usual – normally he was walking in the forest, holding his mother’s hand, humming with her. He almost never dreamt of the Trench – he always tried to pretend it didn’t exist. But this time, that was where he was– running in the Trench, running from something unspeakable, and he knew that if he just slowed down a little, that thing would be just too close, and he wouldn’t be able to run anymore.

This was different though. He felt much more terrified than he usually felt in dreams. And he knew it was a dream, but the dread was very real. Very quickly, his legs started to feel too heavy to keep running, his muscles burning, and even though he didn’t want to, Tyler found himself stumbling on his own legs before falling into the gravel beneath his feet. He had had this nightmare before, so Tyler braced himself for what was coming – he would get up and turn around to the face of his biggest fear.

But that was not what he saw.

It was, still, the being in the red cloak, the one that chased him every night in his nightmares for years. But that was not his face. When Tyler looked up, it was like there was someone else under that cloak. For the first time, he was not paralyzed, but intrigued, so he took one uncertain step forward. A pair of deep black eyes stared back at him from inside the hood, and Tyler only then realized he made a mistake, allowing the thing to get too close, its cold hand suddenly grabbing his throat and lifting him in the air…

Tyler jumped awake, gasping for air in his dark room. It took him a moment to realize he was not awakened by the nightmare, but by the insistent knocking on his door. The man sighed, partially relieved for leaving the Trench, but also slightly annoyed.

“Dude” Tyler said to his friend Josh when opening the door “It’s fucking two in the morning. Don’t you have a house?”

Josh grinned, content, entering the apartment. He knew Tyler crankiness was not very serious, and went straight for Tyler’s coffee machine on the kitchen, while his friend sat by the kitchen table.

“I was making my girl happy” Josh said, shrugging, filling a mug with Tyler’s coffee and leaning against the counter “She wanted to go clubbing, so we did. Then she wanted to leave, so we did. I got her home just now, but your house is in the way, so I thought, ‘I’m sure Ty won’t turn down the company of his best friend who by the way does not have coffee at home right now’, so here I am.”

“Hum” Tyler grumbled, a weak smile appearing on his face even though his head was starting to pound. Since Josh started dating that girl, he was over at Tyler’s much more, at all hours. “You left her there and came here, so what I’m getting is: she didn’t invite you in.”

“She did” Josh said, serious, making a face after taking a sip of the bitter drink in his hand “But she was slightly drunk, so I thought it was best to leave  her to her roommate. I wanna do this right, Ty. I really think she is the one.” Tyler muttered something in agreement, and Josh realized his friend was pressing the sides of his head, walking around the kitchen. “Hey, you ok, buddy?”

“Yeah, yeah” Tyler said dismissively, waiving a hand while going to the bathroom. “Just need an aspirin.”

“Migraine?” Josh said, following Tyler.

“Yeah” he answered weakly, turning off the TV on his way without taking a second look, despite his cat’s protests. He found the aspirin bottle and swallowed a couple with water before saying anything again. “Nightmare. Got my head messed up, I guess.”

Josh didn’t answer, preferring to take another sip of his coffee. Tyler was breathing heavily, his hands clutching to the sides of the bathroom sink while he hoped the aspirin would kick in soon. After all those years, Josh knew what nightmares meant to Tyler, especially if they were followed by a migraine. For that reason, he knew better than to pressure his friend. After a moment, he asked, carefully:

“Was it one of those, Ty?” When Tyler nodded, without turning to face him, Josh sighed, worried. “How bad was it?”

Tyler sighed as well, swallowing hard. He didn’t want to talk about it, but he admired Josh’s efforts to be careful with the subject, so he figured he owed his friend a little opening.

“Let’s just say” he murmured “I was really glad you woke me up.”

Josh flinched. He had to wake Tyler up many times over the years, since the sleepovers in middle school, until their freshman year in college, before they decided to drop out. It was never pretty, but eventually it subsided.

“I was at the Trench this time.”

“Oh, Tyler” Josh said, worried. Those were the worst ones, but Tyler went years without them, and now they seemed to happen at least once a week. But Tyler was already recomposing himself, waiving a hand towards Josh.

“It’s fine, man” he said, exiting the bathroom, going back to his room and turning on the computer. If Josh wasn’t going to let him sleep, he was at least going to get some work done. “I’m awake now. That’s what matters, right?”

Josh bit his lip.

“Look, I know we talked about this but…” he started.

“If you bring up either therapy or those damn investigators again I swear I’m going to kick out, Josh, I’m not kidding,” Tyler said without even looking at him. Josh nodded, without another word. “Can we talk about something else?” Tyler said after a moment, his voice softer.

“Sure” Josh replied, trying to sound normal again. He forced a smile “How’s Jenna doing? Got the nerve to ask her to move in or…”

“Jesus Christ, you’re unbelievable” Tyler complaint, but he was laughing. He let his friend tease him about his girlfriend for a while, relieved the subject changed. He didn’t want to tell Josh that, but he was also relieved to have company. Those pitch black eyes from his dream seemed glued to his mind now, and it was really hard to ignore the feeling that it meant something new.

 

Across the world, Sarah was shaking her foot nervously in the hotel lobby when Brendon arrived. He had only a moment to admire how beautiful she looked in a black cocktail dress before she turned to see him with a murderous look. He immediately raised his hands.

“Ok, in my defense” he said quickly “I’m not so late, ok? It was only fifteen minutes.”

“You said nine!” she replied angrily, walking up to him “You’re not even ready! By the time we get there we will lose the reservation!”

“I know” Brendon answered calmly, his hands still in the air, while people around were starting to look “I called the restaurant on the way, ok? They agreed to hold the reservation for a while. I will go upstairs and I will be ready in ten minutes tops. Sweetheart” He took her face in his hands gently and she immediately seemed to soften a little “I won’t ruin or last night in Melbourne, I promise.”

“If you say so” she said, trying to sound though but failing. She then realized his appearance, how his clothes seemed crumpled and dirty, even his work bag was slightly torn. “What happened to you, after all? You look… and smell… like you jumped on a dumpster.”

Brendon shook his head, looking uncomfortable.

“Yeah, on my way back from the meeting I was almost hit by a car, and kind of had to jump on a pile of garbage to avoid it. I’m totally fine!” he added quickly when she gasped “But it was gross. And awful. But I’m ok, don’t worry. Now sit tight. I’ll be back in ten minutes and then we go out, ok?” He planted a kiss on her cheek and left Sarah in the lobby, almost running upstairs, before she could say anything else.

He was still on edge, the adrenaline in his veins making him want to jump. After so much time, Brendon was in awe with what he had achieved. Entering and exiting the building without triggering the alarms was not that hard. But actually putting his hands on the key?

There was no way he could put that into words.

Brendon hurried to their room and turned on the shower, taking his clothes off. He didn’t want to make Sarah wait any longer – he had to make up a real good story now, and she would be more willing to believe if they were discussing matters over dinner – but he knew he had to take another look.

He pulled the item from his bag, and stared at the cloth wrapping for a moment in admiration. Then, he unveiled the small key, dropping it carefully in his hand. Brendon smiled.

“So much trouble for such a tiny thing” he said to himself.

Brendon tighten his grip around the key, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He could feel it. In a second, a whole universe unveiled inside his mind, not like it was being presented to him, but as if it was there all along. He was taken aback when he held it for the first time in the Museum, but now he knew what to expect. So he simply allowed the waves of knowledge roll over him, feeling all the power that came with it. Images flashed behind his eyelids.

Red cloaks. Bleeding skulls. Incomprehensible symbols. A peaceful landscape.

“That’s the Trench” a voice said to him. “That’s where you’ll find it.”

Brendon sighed, content, and opened his eyes. He could feel the power of the key spreading in all directions, from his palm, into his veins.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

 

A few minutes later, Brendon was entering the restaurant with Sarah. She was looking around, astonished, trying to conceal her shock. She didn’t even see when Brendon passing the maître a bill to get them a better table. As soon as they sat down and the maître left, saying the waiter would be with them shortly, she let out the air she was holding.

“Holy shit, Brendon” she whispered, wondering if she could even swear on a place like that “How much was this place? Can we afford this?”

Brendon was smiling peacefully, trying not to laugh at her shock. She was adorable. He took her hand over the table.

“I can. It’s my gift to you. For being such a good sport about this whole thing, with my work trip coinciding with our anniversary and everything.”

“How would I be upset” Sarah responded, rolling her eyes “If instead of just going out for dinner we got to travel to the other side of the world, see a lot of sights and then get dinner… _like this_?” she gestured to the restaurant around them “It was a blessing in disguise” she shrugged.

Brendon looked down, containing another laugh, but this time regarding her choice of words. That trip had nothing holy about it.

He did feel bad that he had to do that on their anniversary, which was why he made up a story on how it was a work trip and how he could bring company – the opportunity to go sightseeing with her while simultaneously studying the Museum and its surroundings was a bonus. But the main reason things ended up that way was because the plan was made nearly two years before, and having company was not part of it. It was less suspicious, sure, and very convenient, Brendon told himself when he decided to bring her, but more planning was necessary, and he couldn’t postpone it one more day. He even thought of just saying the trip was his anniversary gift, but she was not stupid – she would ask how he could afford that. So everything – the fancy hotel, the exclusive tour guide, even the nice clothes he suddenly acquired – came under the excuse “the company is paying”, and only the restaurant was supposed to be his gift because he couldn’t pretend any company would pay an employee to have expensive dinner with his girlfriend. He knew the next few weeks would bring even more questions that needed even more elaborated lies, but now that he had the key, he was not worried. And amidst all that, he really wanted to make it work with her.

Sarah was an unexpected addition to an equation made a long time ago.

An amazing, beautiful addition.

“This trip was important, you know” Brendon said gently. He wanted to lay the basis for what was to come. “Things will improve when we come back, I might get a promotion.”

Sarah raised her eyebrows, smiling, but before Brendon could add more details the waiter finally showed up, seeming a little out of breath.

“Good night, my name is Oliver and I’ll be your waiter tonight” the young man said mechanically. He forced a smile. “Sorry for the delay. We are short staffed today, since half the city is closed off due to the robbery…”

“What robbery?” Sarah asked, sounding worried and surprised. Brendon tried to keep a straight face. He didn’t want her to know about the robbery until they left, but now that it came up, he had to act naturally – so he had to seem at least slightly interested as well.

“There was a robbery at the History Museum” the waiter said, trying to contain the excitement with the unexpected event. “It happened after it closed, but the thing is, no one really saw it happening. The guard was making his rounds, and when he went back, the thing just… wasn’t there.”

“Oh my god” Sarah exclaimed, looking back at Brendon “We were just there this afternoon!”

“Well, that at least explains why I almost got ran over earlier” Brendon said, seizing the opportunity. He gestured to Sarah when she frowned, confused. “I told you I almost got hit by a car. I didn’t see it well, but it probably was a police car going that way. You said ‘the thing’” he added to the waiter, with calculated interest “What was taken?”

“That’s the crazy part” the waiter answered, jumping at every opportunity to gossip a little more “Apparently only one thing was taken. That… key.” When the waiter simply shrudded and didn’t add anything, Sarah looked at Brendon again, puzzled.

“I think he means the Devil’s Key” Brendon helped. When Sarah seemed to understand, the waiter nodded, uncomfortable.

“Look, I don’t really believe this stuff” the man said in a lower tone “But I also don’t doubt it. Everyone around here says some… odd stuff happens in the Museum since they got the key. So people are saying that whoever took the key is up to something evil.”

“Well, the key is apparently worth 100 million dollars. Don’t you remember?” He added when Sarah, along with the waiter, made a shocked face. “The tour guide said that. So I guess we can all imagine the awful plans whoever took that key has, and they involve being filthy rich.”

“Well, sorry, got sidetracked” the waiter said suddenly, noticing that Brendon’s tone was slightly cold. “Here is the menu. Can I get you anything to drink?”

 

After an amazing dinner, the couple rushed back to the hotel, to enjoy their last night overseas. The minute they closed the bedroom door, Brendon took Sarah in his arms enthusiastically.

“The restaurant was great and all” he said, his lips half an inch from hers “But it was too classy in the end. I spent the whole night wanting to do this.” He closed the distance between their lips and kissed her passionately, while Sarah locked her fingers in his hair. They tried to walk together to the bed, stumbling.

“Can we just stop time?” Sarah murmured, taking her lips from Brendon’s for a moment while she took off his jacket. Her shoes and his were already somewhere else. “I don’t want to come back home. I want to stay in this room with you until I grow old. If you still want me then.”

“Don’t be dumb” Brendon answered, distracted, too busy trying to open her dress without seeing the zipper on her back “I will always want you. We will make the most of tonight, and then we go home, get married and then we can decide if we want to stay in our bedroom forever.”

Sarah pushed Brendon away only slightly, but he stopped the movement to undress her, confused. Her face was a mess of emotions.

“Did you just…” she was breathing heavily, her eyes starting to water. “Did you just use the ‘M’ word?”

Brendon reviewed the sentence in his head. Once he realized what she meant, he shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

“Well, yes” he said gently “I thought it was obvious that we are getting married after this. You’re stuck with me, Sarah. Don’t act like you don’t know it” he added, jokingly. Her eyes welled up, and she opened a smile.

“I wanted to wait until we were back to talk about this” Brendon added, finally managing the zipper and sliding the dress off of her without any resistance “Until my work situation changed and everything. But I really thought it was obvious. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have planned a big proposal and everything…”

“No” Sarah cut him fast “I like this. I like the fact that you think about us married as so natural that you…”

Sarah’s voice lowered and stopped. She was opening his shirt, distracted, and then she froze when she looked down, resting her hands on his chest. It took Brendon a moment for it to register: the key was hanging from his neck on a string, rested against his undershirt.

Sarah looked up at Brendon while he felt paralyzed for a second. Her face went from confusion to shock to horror.

“Brendon” she whispered, apparently too weak to even speak “What did you do?”

Brendon felt his heart almost stop in his chest.

“Sarah” he urged her, taking her face in his hands, without thinking twice. He had to do it. “Listen to me. Hey” he called out when her eyes went down to the key again. “Look at me. Look me in the eye.” When she stared at him, her hands now over his, panicking, Brendon talked to her in his most neutral, calm voice. “It’s a souvenir. You saw me getting it at the Museum, remember? You told me it was too creepy. It is really just that. It’s a fake.”

Sarah’s hands went limp over his and then fell to her sides. Her eyes were turning glassy, and even though she was looking at him, Brendon knew she was no longer seeing him.

“You don’t like it” Brendon continued in the same tone “You know it’s not real, but it’s just so creepy, and you must never, ever touch it. You don’t want to get anywhere near it. Got it?”

Her head moved slightly, nodding. Brendon sighed and let go of her face, resting his hands on her waist. Sarah closed her eyes, her body unsteady for a second, then she blinked, sighing, and just by her face Brendon knew it worked. Her eyes went straight for the key.

“Ugh” she grumbled, making a face “I still don’t know why you got this.”

Brendon smiled peacefully.

“It’s just a joke, honey” he responded, shrugging, hiding his relief.

“Either way I don’t like it. Can you please take it off?” she asked with a shy smile. “I don’t want it in the way while I do some bad things to my future husband.”

 

A few hours later, Sarah was fast asleep, with a silk sheet around her naked body, while Brendon sat against the headboard, thinking. He got the key back from where it was, resting over his clothes on the other side of the room, and now he was looking at it with a new sense of perception.

He didn’t want to use the power of the key on Sarah. He was ok with the lying, telling himself it was to protect her, because that was too important to be done any other way. He was ok with invading a Museum to steal highly guarded item and, hell, he was even ok with hiding in a dumpster to wait until the area was clear. But using the power of the key on her… it just felt wrong.

_It was inevitable_ , he told himself, firmly. _Now that I think about it, she would see the key eventually. Better sooner than later._

Plus there was… the feeling. He didn’t anticipate what he would feel while using the power. It has been inside him, pulsating, like a new, living organ, ever since he put his hands on it for the first time. That was why he wasn’t worried to take it off when Sarah asked. It was like – no, not like, it was exactly that – the key knew he owned it now, and respected that ownership. He didn’t even have to keep it around his neck, probably.

But it made him feel powerful.

And using it? It made him feel invincible.

Brendon took another look at Sarah, caressing her hair with his free hand. She looked so peaceful. Completely unaffected by what happened. She was even chatting, after sex, of about how their wedding would be, the people they should invite and where they were going to live, because both of them had small apartments. He teased her about buying her a new house and she laughed hard, unaware of how serious he was. It felt like she was even happier than before, and he didn’t know if it was the strange proposal or if the key had something to do with it, but suddenly, it didn’t matter anymore. _All that matters_ , he thought, _is that she is happy_.

Brendon set the key on his nightstand and turned to the side, embracing her. She shifted a little, adjusting her body to his.

_I’m doing this for her as well_ , he told himself, ignoring the little scoff in the back of his head, a voice that was not his, and drifting to sleep.


	2. The Vessel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see a little of the next day and Tyler's relationships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All wives (and fiancee) are now girlfriends. This chapter was supposed to be longer but I wanted to post while is still this year.

The next morning Tyler was feeling much better, partially thanks to a few energy drinks. Josh crashed on his sofa around three, but Tyler didn’t want to go back to sleep. In the end that seemed like a good idea, since he was able to push the memory of the dream away, got to work on some music and felt pretty good with the idea of going out with his girlfriend. Tyler imagined that, with some luck, by nighttime he would be so tired that sleep would come without dreams.

Brunch with Jenna turned quickly into a double date, with Josh and his girlfriend Debby. They haven’t had a real opportunity to meet yet, just ‘hellos’ and ‘goodbyes’ and ‘we should get together soon’.  So Tyler, a shower and five Red Bulls after the sun rose, decided it was a very good day for that.

They got along so well no one felt the time going by, and within minutes they went from small talk to laughing way harder than it was usual in the coffee shop they were at – the boys had a lifetime supply of embarrassing stories about each other to tell the girls.

“You know, the weirdest part” Josh was saying at one point, “for quite some time his mom thought I was the bad influence. She like, tried to forbid me from talking to him for a while before, you know, realizing he would get in trouble on his own just as fine.”

“Ohhh, was that after the fire extinguisher incident?” Tyler remembered. He explained to the girls “I was joking around about triggering the fire alarm to get off of school one day, and Josh took it too seriously…”

“Hey, wait up!” Josh cut him while the girls started laughing again “You weren’t joking, your exact words were ‘c’mon, pull it while I keep an eye’, and I actually tried to convince you what a bad idea it was! And then you called me a chicken!”

“That’s what convinced you?” Debby raised her eyebrows. Josh shrugged.

“It was sixth grade! That was a big thing! Anyway” he continued while Debby laughed again “I trigger the alarm, immediately freak out, Tyler freaks out too…”

“Cause that shit was so loud” Tyler added on.

“So loud, and then” Josh started laughing while speaking “I don’t know what possessed Tyler to do that, this guy takes a goddamn fire extinguisher…” he stopped, laughing too hard to talk, and took in a deep breath “And starts shooting CO2 through the hall, yelling ‘fire! Out, everyone, out!’ And I just go along, because what else should I do?”

“I don’t know either, ok?” Tyler said amidst laughter when Jenna stared at him in amused shock “I guess I just thought that if we acted like we believed there was a fire no one would suspect us!”

“Anyway, that backfired” Josh shrugged again “The second the teachers saw us running with that extinguisher they knew we fucked up, we knew it too, moms got involved, had a fight, didn’t let us speak for a while.”

“His mom got offended cause my mom said he was a bad influence on me” Tyler said, in a more serious tone “Then they agreed it was best for us not to talk. Then I had to solve it, right? I tried telling my mom it was my idea, but she thought I was just trying to get my friend back…”

“So for about two… two weeks?” Josh asked and when Tyler nodded, he proceeded “Tyler was the most annoying goblin he possibly could. I have no idea what exactly he did, but eventually he tried to run away and when his mom caught him she called my mom and almost begged her to bring me over.”

Tyler was about to tell the story of how, when his mom found him, he climbed a very unstable tree and refused to come down unless she brought Josh over, when his phone rang. He took a look at the screen and raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, that’s a good timing.” Tyler gave an apologetic look “It’s mom, gotta take it” he said, answering “Hey, mom, I was just talking about you!”

“Hey sweetie” his mother replied “How are you?”

Tyler immediately recoiled. She was speaking normally, but he sensed something in her tone that indicated the call wasn’t a pleasantry. He got up.

“Be right back” he said to Jenna, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and walking away from the table.

“Tell Kelly I said ‘hi’!” Josh yelled when his friend turned his back, noticing Tyler’s weird behavior.

“Mom” he said when he was a few feet away “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! Well, nothing serious” she sighed. Kelly got used to Tyler knowing things without an explanation over the years, but that complicated matters whenever there was a sensitive topic. “Tyler, have you seen the news today?” she continued without really expecting an answer. “The Melbourne Museum was robbed last night. The key was stolen.”

Tyler felt like something cold was being poured on his back. He shivered, his mind going straight to the dream last night.

“Mom” he said, trying to sound neutral despite the horror he was feeling, the deep black eyes coming back to his brain as clearly as before “What time was that? Did they catch the guy?” because it was obviously a guy. It was starting to make sense now.

“I guess it was around midnight, maybe 1AM here? At least that’s what the news said. And no, they didn’t catch anyone. That’s why I called.” She sighed. “Nothing else was stolen. Whoever entered the Museum, went only for the key. And they have no clue, no leads, nothing that might tell them who did it. So the Melbourne police called us this morning. Tyler, they might contact you to try and figure this out.”

Tyler frowned, confused.

“What? Why would I know anything about that?” he asked. He did know something, of course, but nothing that would help them to find the object. “I haven’t set my eyes on that goddamn thing in nearly twenty years!”

“I know, honey, and I told them that” his mother said, sounding tired “But apparently they are working with the possibility that maybe you told someone about it, or maybe someone who knew about the key before decided to take it back…”

“Oh, c’mon, what they’re gonna do next, contact my sixth grade teacher as well?” Tyler complained, to which his mother gave a sad laugh.

“Oh, they did. Listen” Kelly added when Tyler groaned, exasperated “I just wanted to give you a heads up. I know you don’t like to talk about the past, but they might try to talk to Josh, or Jenna. Does she know, sweetheart? About all that?”

Tyler closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His mother knew him too well.

“No” he said simply. He didn’t need to explain.

“Then at least warn her that someone might contact her about it. But, Tyler?” she added gently. “You should tell her. I know you love her, and I know you want to move forward. You need to get this out of the way, hon.”

“I know” he sighed. “I will, ok? Soon.”

“Ok. Do it. Talk to you later, sweetie.”

Josh analyzed Tyler when he came back to the table, barely hiding his preoccupation.

“Something wrong?” Josh asked, carefully.

“Maybe. Don’t know it yet” Tyler looked at his friend, trying to transmit with a look all the words he couldn’t say. “Mom said that thing I donated to the Museum got stolen. Last night.”

Josh raised his eyebrows so much Debby laughed a little. He had to restrain himself to sound casual.

“Hum, did they catch anyone?”

“Nope” Tyler turned to Jenna, making an effort to calm himself down before talking to her “This is kind of why my mother called. She said maybe the police will talk to me, and the people around me, because they want to track back everyone who knew about it.”

“But…” Josh was trying to piece together an argument that wouldn’t reveal everything they knew about the key, mostly because Tyler clearly was avoiding explaining too much “If the thing was in display at the Museum, hundreds of people see it every day, why would you know anything about it?”

“Apparently they have no clues” Tyler shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “So it seems they wanna retrace the… the item’s trajectory, in case someone who knew about it before decided to take it back.”

“Wait, do they suspect you?” Jenna asked. When Tyler shrugged again and everyone in the table seemed uncomfortable, Debby raised her hands.

“Sorry, I’m confused” she said with a shy smile “I think  I’m missing something on an inside matter. Who stole what and what do you have to do with it?”

“I’m not sure either” Jenna got up the courage to say. She knew Tyler omitted some things about his past, but this seemed to be important. She held his hand and muttered, softly “Wanna share?”

Tyler sighed and gave Josh a quick look, to which his friend responded with a nearly imperceptible nod.

“It’s not a big deal” Tyler said in his most calm voice. He let the discomfort transpire, mostly because he was sure that this was the emotion he was supposed to convey. “My birth mom… she gave me this thing before she died. I just kept it for a long time. A key. And when I was like 12, our history teacher told me it was actually a Mayan artifact or something, so I donated to a Museum and that was that. But now that it was stolen, they probably want to know if I told anyone about it or if I know where it came from, which I don’t so…” he shrugged.

“Oh. I didn’t realize you were adopted.” Debby said, distracted. Then she blushed. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be intrusive…”

“No, it’s ok” Tyler said calmly, smiling gently “It’s not a big deal. My birth mom died, Kelly adopted me when I was seven and it’s all good since then.”

“If you don’t mind me asking” Debby said a little more confident since Tyler seemed chill about the subject “Why did you give the key to a Museum? If it was your mother’s…”

“Cause it wasn’t a big deal, honestly” Tyler replied with a straight face “I had other things from my mom, you know, gifts, even pictures. I don’t even know where she got that thing; it was never that important, so I just gave it away.”

Tyler smiled when Jenna squeezed his hand, pleased that he was sharing a little about himself, when he caught a glimpse of his friend’s expression. Josh was positively seething and, when he looked up, Tyler realized why.

_“Can’t believe you are lying so much with such a straight face”_ Josh thought, and looked back to his food, his appetite gone. Even if Tyler couldn’t catch the full thought – sometimes he didn’t – Josh knew he was fully aware of the feeling. “Tyler knows” was just a thing since they were kids, something that, amidst all the crazy things that happened to Tyler, never needed a full explanation. He just knew things, especially if it had to do with the people he loved – and their friendship was so strong that sometimes Tyler could answer questions Josh didn’t ask out loud, or quote him on things he never said.

But this time Josh hoped Tyler could get his feeling. Because while he knew Tyler was not comfortable sharing his story, he was getting really mad to see Tyler lying to both their girlfriends like that. He cared deeply about Debby, and he knew how much Tyler cared for Jenna, so he couldn’t understand how Tyler could lie to them like he did to so many people before.

_“Omitting is understandable, Ty, downplaying too. But now you’re just lying and you need to stop. Or change the subject.”_

He looked back at Tyler and saw him nodding, as if to himself. Josh felt relieved.

“But let me tell you guys what I was gonna say before this call, and that was the story of the day Josh decided to quit college. It involves a skateboard and three mangoes.”

 

While Tyler went back to telling embarrassing stories, Brendon and Sarah were waking up in the hotel and getting ready to leave Melbourne. They had to wake incredibly early to face an 18 hour flight, so when Brendon told Sarah, casually, that they got a first class upgrade she didn’t question his bullshit excuse involving mileage points, just nodded and leaned on him for support when they entered the airport.

Brendon was not feeling sleepy at all, so he just held her waist and kept going. He was alert, focused, because even if he knew the key would ensure everything went well, he wanted to see it.

The metal detector went off when he passed, and a security agent came to screen him with a portable device. The thing went off when it passed his pockets and Brendon took out a bunch of keys.

“Sorry, I forgot it” Brendon said calmly, handing the keys from work and home. The security agent put the keys away and was about to return to his task when he caught a glimpse of Brendon’s necklace.

Brendon expected that – everyone was looking for it now, and obviously authorities were alerted that someone could try to flee the country. He could have tucked the key better under his shirt, but he decided to leave a few buttons open just to see what would happen. The agent looked shocked, and then raised his eyes to Brendon’s face, his hand making the slightest movement to the radio in his pocket.

Brendon stared at the guy, unperturbed.

“It’s a souvenir” he said firmly “Nothing to worry about.”

The security agent had the same expression Sarah had for a second the night before. His hand moved away from his radio and he got straight up, blinking, confused.

“Ok, move along. Take your keys after the metal detector.”

Brendon suppressed a smile, walking by the metal detector without triggering it. He was getting better at that by the minute.


	3. Digging Deeper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brendon is looking for something, but first he needs to cast away his own demons. The worlds start to intersect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Being an adult is too hard and I have very little time to write these days. I should be working right now.

Brendon saw himself in a car. He was 19 again and he was driving. He knew he shouldn’t be driving, but he couldn’t remember why.  Slowly, memories started to come back to his brain and he looked to the side.

It wasn’t his high school girlfriend in the passenger seat, as he expected. It was Sarah. She was half asleep, but she turned to him and gave a half smile. Brendon smiled back, feeling drowsy, when Sarah muttered something. He couldn’t make what she was saying and kept watching her lips, trying to read them, until she whispered a little louder.

“Watch the road”.

Then everything happened in a second, but he could see every detail as if it was slow motion. The lights coming closer, getting the car clearer and clearer, making it easier to see the impact of the semi against the car they were in, and making Brendon realize, to his horror, that Sarah was not wearing her seatbelt, at the same instant when her body was thrown forwards, into the dashboard…

Brendon jumped awake, his heart racing like he had indeed crashed. Sarah immediately grabbed his shoulders.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok” she said quickly, putting one hand over his heart, concerned. Brendon was looking around, slowly realizing he was in the backseat of a taxi, already in LA, on his way home.

Brendon took a few deep breaths, placing a hand over Sarah’s in his chest, feeling his heartbeat slowing down as he started to feel better.

“It was just a dream” he whispered, mostly to himself, closing his eyes again “Just a dream.”

“The car again?” Sarah whispered as well, running her fingers through his hair. He nodded, then looked at her. She was there, looking at him, worried, but still beautiful and so… alive. In his dream, she was a grayish copy of herself. That’s how he remembered the dead girl. He felt a sting of guilt by referring to his old girlfriend as just “the dead girl”, but her name sounded foreign to him nowadays.

But Sarah was there – breathing, full of life, stunning and so… illuminated. Seeing her in his dream, gray and opaque and dead was one of the most terrifying things he had ever experienced.

“It was you” Brendon said before he could stop himself. “In the passenger seat. You were in her place.”

“Oh, honey” she sighed, embracing him tightly, “it’s ok. It was just a dream. I’m right here. I’m ok. We’re ok.”

Brendon nodded, holding her close, trying to understand what just happened.

 

When they got to his apartment, Brendon was feeling more like himself again, while Sarah was once again stumbling around. He was going through his mail that accumulated for a few days when he realized Sarah was standing in the same place for a few minutes, staring at his coffee table.

“Sarah? Sweetheart?” he called, instantly preoccupied. Was this some after effect of using the key on her? He was kind of expecting the other shoe to drop since the night before.

But Sarah blinked and stared at him, clearly sleepy.

“What time is it? And what day is today?”

She pointed to the digital watch on his coffee table, and Brendon laughed, relieved.

“It’s six AM. It’s Thursday.”

She frowned, thinking. Then she shook her head slowly, like even that was too much effort.

“No, we left the hotel at six AM of Thursday. Isn’t it Friday?”

Brendon laughed again. “Yes” he started “But Melbourne is 19 hours ahead, and we took an 18 hour route back, including the flight and the connections, it turns into…”

“No” Sarah groaned, cutting him off, waving a hand. She blinked in slow motion and stared at him “I will take a three minute shower, then I’ll pass out in your bed and don’t you dare to wake me up. Also, if you’re not in bed with me within the next ten minutes I’m breaking up.”

“I’ll be right there” Brendon laughed as she left the room, taking off her shoes in the hallway and throwing her cardigan somewhere. Sarah was never that messy and it was funny to see that temporary glitch on her personality being caused by jet lag. “I just have to make a work call, ok? Don’t pass out just yet.”

Brendon watched her waving at him again and then disappearing into the bedroom. As soon as she closed the door, he pulled up his phone.

He awaited a moment, feeling the excitement building up again. Then a monotonous, sleepy, voice picked up.

“What?”

“Now, Scott” Brendon said cheerfully “Is that a way to talk to people? Good morning doesn’t hurt.”

“Damn it, Urie” the man on the line grunted “You’re calling me at six in the morning. You nearly woke up my lady friend. You better have a good reason.”

Brendon smiled to himself a little too wide. He had been fantasizing about grabbing Scott by the throat for months now, and this was it. No more being stomped down. He was going to make that guy sorry.

“I need you to contact H.Q.” he answered calmly. “Call in a meeting as soon as possible.”

“For fucks sake” Scott whispered, and Brendon guessed he was rushing to another room where his newest lover couldn’t hear him “I don’t know if you’re playing dumb or if you actually are, but you know we don’t wake the big guy for anything less than an apocalypse situation so if you think…”

“I got the key.”

Silence on the line.

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t dare to joke about it. Don’t you think the big guy want to be called for this?” Brendon added.

Scott sighed.

“Apocalypse it is, then” he muttered to himself. Then he tried to regain his bossy attitude “Listen, it’s gotta be today, then. I’ll text you the time after I confirm with the society. But be very careful. Don’t mess this up. Even if you have the key, which I’m not entirely buying, you better really have it _for real_ if you know what I mean. Cause if you wake up the big guy for nothing, you gonna be really sorry. The society hates false alarms.”

“Don’t worry about me, Scotty” Brendon teased, holding back the urge to threaten the guy. He had to be careful, at least until he talked to the big guy. “I know what I’m doing. I already did I test run. I already found what we are looking for. So just do what I asked. And maybe things end up okay for everyone, how about that?”

Scott huffed, but didn’t address the veiled threat. He knew what Brendon was implying: having the key was a game changer inside the society.

“I’m calling them now. I’ll text you the time. Don’t be late.”

The second Scott hang up, Brendon threw his phone away in the kitchen table, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Ok, so he did exaggerate a little, but Scott always got the worst of him. Nothing he couldn’t fix.

Since the nightmare on the way home, Brendon hadn’t got any more sleep, and it was starting to mess with his mind, but he did had enough time to think and he could finally understand. It was the key, obviously: the key was resurfacing the nightmare in its worst form. He knew it would affect him, because the artifact did have a mind of its own – it felt like this was the key’s way into his head, its way of saying “ _you have to earn me, or else_.” He used it maybe three times so far. It was a fairly new relationship. He had to earn its trust. The nightmare was the key’s reminder that he had to focus if he wanted true power.

And power is a jealous mistress.

“I’m doing this for her as well” he told himself one more time, out loud so he could better convince himself. “I’m doing this for Sarah, too.”

The little scoff in the back of his mind came back and this time Brendon didn’t pretend he didn’t hear. Of course the key didn’t believe him. It didn’t matter, anyway. He was going to get what he wanted and in the way he was also getting Sarah the life she deserved. That was, indeed, a good reason to focus.

In addition to, of course, not being a doormat in the society anymore.

Still, Brendon had to tackle one more problem, and he had to do it immediately, before succumbing to the sleepy fog in his head that was making him want to join Sarah in the bedroom as fast as possible. He did say to Scott that he found what they were looking for, which was a lie. He only saw the landscape, the Trench, before leaving for dinner with Sarah. He needed the full information before facing the big guy or else the key wouldn’t make a lot of difference.

Brendon went to the bedroom door and listened attentively. The shower was not on anymore, and soon he heard the heavy breathing of a sleeping person. Brendon sighed, relieved. He had time.

He went back to the living room, staring out the window. The sky was clearer than when he arrived, but the city still seemed dead. He liked that time of the day – when the whole world was asleep, it was easier to think. He needed that now, so Brendon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clearing his mind. Then slowly, he took off the necklace and took a good look at the key, acknowledging it, before clenching his fist around it. It felt warmer than it should be, almost burning. He took a few more deep breaths to prevent himself from releasing his grip on it by instinct.

“Show me the boy”, he said finally.

 

Tyler was having a vague dream about being a teenager with Josh, the kind of dream you don’t really remember when you wake up, a random product of the subconscious made up just to get the brain working. And suddenly, he was five again, and running one more time.

 

Brendon smiled. He could see so clearly. First the Trench again: a canyon, a stream, a valley. And then the little boy, running for his life.

 

Tyler held the compass on his hand with all his strength. He knew he had to go faster, but he was so tired, and his mind was all over the place. He couldn’t stop thinking about the blood. He didn’t know _they_ could bleed. He still felt the blood in his hand. He never made anyone bleed before.

And then he wasn’t five anymore. He was just himself, nearly thirty, but still running, clutching the compass in his hand. The blood still felt fresh.

 

Brendon could now see the man. He was his age, probably, as expected. The clothes were the same he saw in the kid – a camo jacket covered in yellow tape – but Brendon knew it was the same person. He still needed more – a face, for starters.

_“Look at me.”_

 

Against his will, Tyler slowed down. He looked back, to the person pursuing him, but this time there was no figure in a red robe. Instead, he could see a man in the distance, in a black suit, just standing and watching. That, somehow, freaked him out more. Something was wrong.

He made an effort to run again, but it was like his legs were turned to concrete. He kept looking back without meaning too, and even from the distance, he could see the man was smiling. His heart was racing so hard, that actually added to his tiredness.

 

_“You are tired. Stop fighting”_ Brendon said in his mind, watching the man stumbling on his own legs. It was pitiful, really. It was time to get some concrete data. “ _Just let go. Just go back to sleep.”_

 

Tyler watched the landscape dissolving around him. He didn’t fight it, didn’t try to understand. That was different. He didn’t quite comprehend what was happening, but he was too tired to fight. Some part of him was screaming warnings, that this was something far worse than the dream, but he just couldn’t remember why he should be worried.

Was that still a dream? He could feel soft, delicate hands on his shoulders. Jenna. Her voice was strangely muffled, like his ears were covered.

_“Open your eyes”_

Tyler obliged promptly, unsure on where the voice was coming from. He could see the ceiling of his bedroom. He could also see Jenna in his peripheral vision, and then she was jumping away, her scream also muffled. Why was she screaming? What was happening?

_“That’s not important”_ he heard _“Just rest. Don’t think. Just do as I say.”_

Tyler stared at the ceiling again. That was easier indeed. He didn’t want to fight, honestly. It was so comfortable.

_“Get up. Go to the window. What do you see?”_

Tyler got up, ignoring completely the blond girl cowering in the corner of the bedroom. He opened the curtains and stared at the street.

_“It’s just the street”_ Tyler said softly. Was he really talking? Or was he just thinking? _“It’s dead at this time. There’s just a sub place open.”_

The voice in his head seemed happy.

_“I know this street. This is good.”_

Tyler nodded. He just wanted to lie down again.

_“Just one more thing. Tell me your name. Then you can go to sleep again.”_

Tyler frowned. Why was this random voice asking so many questions? What a strange dream to have. But if he could go back to sleep, it was ok.

_“Tyler. Tyler Joseph.”_

 

Brendon smiled to himself once more, so satisfied he could sing. He was too tired for that, though. So he just whispered into his hand, to the key, ready to let go of the leash he was holding Tyler on, ready to join Sarah in his bed for at least a few hours.

_“Thank you, Tyler. Good job. It will be interesting working with you.”_

 

For a few minutes, Tyler sank into the darkness with no dreams at all. His mind completely erased everything that just happened, everything that resembled a dream he could have. The uneasiness of being in the Trench, however, was a little too much to erase, and when the darkness started to dissipate, he had a vague memory of running, of the blood in his hand, and of a figure in black watching him. Still, the migraine was nearly absent, just a tingle in his brain, and Tyler felt fully rested when he opened his eyes. He sat on the bed, sighing.

Then he noticed Jenna, crouching in the corner, holding a desk lamp like a weapon, her eyes bloodshot from crying.

All the alarms rang in Tyler’s head at the same time.

“Jenna? Sweetie, what happened?”

Tyler made a movement to get up and Jenna immediately held the desk lamp tighter, in attack position. Tyler raised his hands.

“Honey, I’m not going to hurt you. Please talk to me. What it going on?”

Tyler waited, patiently, with his hands in the air, hardly breathing. Jenna got up slowly, watching him attentively, her face going from fear and panic to a calm confusion.

“You… you really don’t remember, do you?”

Tyler shook his head calmly, despite the horror he was feeling. He knew the drill. He had to learn how to make other people safe around him even when his world was crumbling down.

“Did I do something? Said something in my sleep?”

Jenna nodded, her lip trembling, then she dropped the desk lamp and started crying loudly.

Tyler felt it was safe to approach her now, so he went to Jenna and helped her back to the bed. She sobbed for a few more moments, then took a few breaths, seemingly calmer.

“What happened, sweetheart?” Tyler asked timidly when she stopped crying.

Jenna looked at him with a lingering hint of suspicion. How could be possible he had no idea? But Tyler kept looking at her, visibly desperate. She crossed her arms defensively.

“I… you were agitated in your sleep” she started saying, finding it easy to talk without looking at him, staring at the feet of the dresser. “You were breathing heavily, so I presumed it was a nightmare. I tried to wake you up, tried shaking you and calling your name, but you just wouldn’t open your eyes.” She held herself tighter and finally looked at Tyler. Her expression made something sink inside him. “Then you did. Then you said ‘open your eyes’ but… but it wasn’t your voice? I realized that was what woke me up, you were talking, but it wasn’t… you. But then you open your eyes, and Ty, it wasn’t you. Those were not your eyes.”

Tyler started feeling sick. He could literally feel everything he had for dinner dancing around in his stomach. He had to wrap his arms around himself as well to prevent from shaking.

“Your eyes were red. Not like, bloodshot red. Your pupils were literally red.”

“Then what happened?” Tyler muttered under his breath, trying to inhale deeply to see if the nausea would go away, staring at the duvet, unable to look at her.

“You kept talking. I jumped away from you, but you didn’t even… you didn’t even flinch.” She shook her head, incredulous. “It was like you were not even here. But you kept talking. It was like… like you were doing two halves of a conversation. You told yourself to get up and look at the window, and so you did. You asked what you saw, and then you described it. But then it… then it was your voice again. When you responded, it was really you. Then the other voice asked your name and you said it. And then… it was over. You just went back to bed and fell asleep again like nothing happened.”

“What…” Tyler tried, and then stopped. He had to catch his breath a few times to be able to speak without feeling like he was going to throw up. He tried again. “What was the last thing? Did I… did the other voice say something else, or it just stopped?”

Jenna frowned. How did he know?

“It said ‘it is going to be interesting working with you’ or something.”

Tyler buried his head in his hands.

“Fuck” he muttered.

“Tyler” Jenna called, urgently “What the heck is going on? What the hell just happened? What was that voice? Those eyes? Talk to me!”

Tyler stayed a moment longer with his head in his hands. There was no way around it. He didn’t really want Jenna to stay over that night – he knew the stolen key could mean something like that. But they had dinner, and she seemed sleepy, and she asked him if she should stay, with doe eyes and a smile, and Tyler convinced himself it was ok. And now she saw it, all the things he was trying to hide at once, and now there was only the truth left.

She deserved it, of course.

But Tyler knew it could mean a goodbye.

“I’m going to tell you” he nodded, resigned. He took a good look at her face. Maybe he was not going to get a second chance to do that. “I’m going to tell you the whole story.”


	4. In the City (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler's back story. All of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason it took me this long is cause: work. But also: I made the dumb decision of writing THE ENTIRE character backstory for Tyler and I thought, as an idiot, that I would fit a 5k chapter, tops. I could not be more wrong, so I'm gonna cut this and write the rest in the next chapter.  
> I HATED this chapter. I'm posting without revision cause I can't look at this anymore. I just wanna move on from this part already. I don't know what's happening. Just...  
> Thanks everyone who is putting up with this and sorry that it got so gosh darn long.

Tyler spent a few minutes just breathing deep and staring at his hands. How should he even start? Telling Josh was different, it took him years, telling bits and pieces of the story until he had the whole picture together. He didn’t have that kind of time now. He had to pour everything for Jenna at once, and still he wasn’t sure if she wouldn’t just get up and leave.

“I’ll tell you everything” Tyler said, finally looking back at her “But I need you to promise me just one thing.” He carefully took one of her hands on his. “Promise me you will listen to me until the end. If I finish telling you the story and you decide you don’t believe me, that I’m crazy, you can just leave. But I need you to hear everything.”

Jenna squeezed his hand back.

“Ty, I promise. Whatever it is, I just… what I just saw was crazy already. I can believe anything, I guess.”

 _Wait for it_ , Tyler thought with a grimace.

He got up and went to his closet. He felt a sting in his heart when he found it: a worn out backpack. It seemed so big when he was a kid, and now it was so tiny in his hands. He carried it to his bed.

“This is it” he sighed, sitting with Jenna again. “Everything I have from before being adopted is here. Everything I have from my birth mother fits this backpack.”

He caressed the worn out fabric, a generic drawing on the outer pocket fading. He took one more deep breath and finally felt ready to talk. And then, on cue, everything started pouring out at once.

“I was born inside a cult. No one ever called it a cult back then, though. It was a city. As a kid I didn’t even know its name. I just called it ‘the city’.” Tyler bit his lip, thinking back. “I was born in it. I lived the first five years of my life there. Now, you need to understand” he looked at Jenna, who had her whole attention on him now “Life was rather… normal in there for me. Of course, nowadays I see how bizarre it was, but for me, that was all I knew. We lived in an apartment with one bedroom, inside a complex. We had school, or at least, the older kids had. My mother had work. There was even a clinic. And of course, Prayers.”

“You mean, like a church?” Jenna asked when Tyler’s face went dark.

“Sort of” he shrugged. “Prayers took a good part of our day. But for me, it was all normal. I had nothing to compare, sure, no one ever told me how the world outside was. I didn’t really think, up until a certain point, that there was a world outside.”

“What about your dad? If you don’t mind me asking…”

“I asked my mom, very early” Tyler said, with almost no emotion. He was feeling strangely numb. “She would only tell me he left. Whenever I pressed for a better explanation she seemed so upset, I just stopped asking eventually.”

“There were only little things in the beginning, that would get me wondering. My mother had a box of things she would never show anyone but me. Sometimes she would have something and tell me ‘darling, this is one of mom’s secrets. You know what happens when people have secrets, right?’ And of course I knew. People with secrets would disappear if anyone knew about it, so I kept quiet. I didn’t want my mom to disappear. They would take her from me.”

“Who’s they?” Jenna said softly.

“I’m sorry” Tyler said timidly, shaking his head “I’m not telling this right. I never told anyone about all of this, not all at once. I told Josh over the years, and he put the story together on his own. And my mom, Kelly, I mean, when she adopted me, she knew parts of the truth because it was public records. And then a lot of it, she just… inferred. I never really talked to her about a lot of this. She liked making up her own excuses for all the weird shit and I never really corrected her. It’s weird to take someone back to the start of everything.”

Tyler sighed one more time. He took two pieces of clothing from the backpack. Visual aid seemed appropriate.

“So here’s how the routine would go. We all had these gray clothes. Kids would always wear two pieces like these, like we were in pajamas all day. Adults had a version of these, but women would always wear dresses. At any time, any part of the city, everyone would be dressed the same. When it was too cold women could wear pants, and we had gray jumpers, but most of the time they would tell us to just stay indoors on colder days. I hated it” Tyler said with a sad smile, looking at Jenna for a moment “I hated staying indoors because there was not much to do, there was no TV, no computers and very few selected books. We couldn’t have toys, either.”

He took an old plastic car from the backpack.

“But I did have toys. After breakfast my mother would go out to work and she would take some toys from her hiding spot. She would tell me to play in my room, hidden, because the doors had no locks and if anyone saw me, we would be in trouble. So I would spend my mornings hiding under the bed, playing with whatever my mom could give me.”

“I’m sorry, the doors had no locks?” Jenna asked, confused.

“No” Tyler shrugged. He sometimes would forget how strange that all was. “They told us that locks were for people hiding something, and if we had something to hide, we didn’t belong there. Our society is for truthful people, they said. This is to protect you, and as long as you have a clear conscience everything will be taken care of. No one would dare to disagree.”

“You keep saying ‘they’.”

Tyler squirmed, uncomfortable.

“The Elders. The rulers. I’m getting there” he continued. “So. By lunch time my mother would come home, feed me, bathe me, and then it was time for Prayers. And this” Tyler added, his tone getting darker and making Jenna shiver with the way he looked at her “is where things get creepier.”

Tyler took a moment, the memories so strong he didn’t have to close his eyes to see everything clearly: the dimly lit room, the red robes, the neon lights.

“It was called vialism. The supposed religion we had to follow. And as clear in my mind is the image of the place we went to for prayers, the things they would say are… foggy. I remember we would sit there to listen to them, and in a few minutes everything was a blur. They were drugging us, I realized later.”

“They were…” Jenna started with raised eyebrows.

“Yep. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, this includes the children.” Tyler nodded. “Later I was told that the incense burner was actually used to spread hallucinogens. But I’ll go back to that later” Tyler waived a hand when Jenna seemed shocked. “Vialism. It’s kind of hard to explain in a few words. But basically… it’s the idea that you are not your own person. Like, you are here, in your body, but it is not your own. Our purpose, according to them, was to serve. The common people, they would say, were to serve as empty vessels – as vials – to something bigger. Our souls were temporary. They were just supposed to get us through this world, but they had no real significance.”

“Their goal was clear: if your soul means nothing in the grand scheme of things, what do you need free thought, personality, free will for? If your only purpose is to be the tool for something bigger, you don’t need those things. And if you don’t need them, you’re much easier to control.”

“Most days, we would just sit there and listen as they said those things. And when we left, almost by sunset, we felt strangely empty. I know it wasn’t just me, because no one would talk on the way out, although mingling was not encouraged anyways. Why mingle if personalities and bonds are futile? But people wouldn’t even say hello, acknowledging each other. I remember most of the time we would go home and not say a word for hours, until it was time for bed. If you don’t have free thought, conversation also seems futile.”

“But there were days were something else happened. Some days, they would take people to their pulpit. And sometimes, it was for praise, people who were trusted and would go up the ranks inside their society. Sometimes… it was not praise. Sometimes they would take sacrifices.”

“Like killing people? For real?”

“Oh, no” Tyler chuckled with no humor. “No. Punishments were not a spectacle. We wouldn’t see those. People who did anything wrong and were punished would just disappear and we had to act like they never existed. No, sacrifices were something else. These people were not killed in the material sense of the word. They were taken and after some… shenanigans, I’m not sure how it worked, they were presented back to us. Their living bodies. But there was no one in there. Their souls were taken.”

Tyler felt sick again with the memory, but Jenna seemed more confused than ever. She tried hard to follow.

“Were they… brainwashed or something?”

“No, their souls were literally taken” Tyler said in a quiet whisper. When Jenna kept the confused look, Tyler shook his head. “Look, this is what I’m trying to say. This is not an ‘I escaped a religious cult’ story. This is an ‘I barely survived a paranormal experience’ story. They were not convincing us that we had to give up our souls, just so they could control our minds. They were telling us to give up our souls because they could do that literally, but it was easier to do so with people who had surrendered.”

“I was always terrified they would take my mom whenever they announced it was a reaping day. Now I know they wouldn’t, of course. They would only take the ones who were already almost gone. The depressed, the ill. Lazy fucks. They wanted easy preys.”

Tyler stayed silent for a moment, but he didn’t want to see how Jenna was dealing with that. He was still feeling numb and could not deal with anything else beyond the story he had to tell.

“They told us it was an honor, that being taken was the ultimate goal, but we knew the truth. Those people were never seen again and we knew that, wherever they were taken to, it was just to wait for death. Or something worse, but I’m getting there. On reaping days no one seemed as drugged as usual. My mom had a look on her face that I can never forget.”

“But apart from all that? Life was… normal for me.” Tyler shrugged. “I didn’t realize how weird all that shit was because no one told me. My mother was the only person who talked to me for a long time. One summer – or at least I presume it was a summer, because was warm – I made a friend, briefly. His name was Ethan. When it was hot I was allowed to play in the patio next to the apartment, although it was hard to play without any toys or friends. But then I met Ethan, and we had a good time together for a while. He told me a lot of things about the world outside, and when I asked how he knew that, he said it was a secret. He was the first to tell me about things like TVs and computers and videogames, but I knew better than to ask my mother if any of those things were real. One day, Ethan vanished. I asked my mother about it, finally, because I was upset. I told her the things he had told me. She begged me to never repeat them. She said Ethan’s parents had a secret, like her. That’s why they were gone. And I didn’t want the same to happen to her, so I didn’t.”

“With time I forgot about it. About Ethan and everything he told me. Of course, that was the main goal when they made people disappear – to make us feel like it was no big deal, like those people never existed. I missed having a friend, but I quickly learnt how to play alone again.”

“Until I turned five, and everything changed.”

Tyler crossed his arms, trying to stop himself from shaking. Then, after a moment, he managed to reach inside the backpack again. He handed Jenna four old photos.

“Wait. Is this you?” Jenna was trying to contain the excitement. She analyzed the pictures: they were all similar, showing a little boy with a woman, both in gray clothes, both serious. The only indication of bonding was how the woman held the boy, leaning her head against his little body.

“Pictures were not allowed, either” Tyler whispered. He thought it was probably horrifying how indifferent he was feeling towards those pictures, but he couldn’t help it. “But my mom had a camera. After I got out I tried revealing them, but only a few were good. The rest of the film went bad.”

Jenna lifted her head, suddenly realizing how numb Tyler sounded. Then it hit her: he was here. He survived. His mother didn’t.

“You both seem so serious” she said gently. Tyler shrugged one more time. He felt like he kept doing that, but he couldn’t find a way around the awkwardness he was feeling.

“Smiling was also not encouraged. Anyway. I turned five” he nodded to himself, trying to stay on track while Jenna seemed even more uncomfortable. “We didn’t have... dates, times, there. We counted days with day and night, but we didn’t have a very good system. But we could count years. After I got out it took me a while to explain that my birthday was on the 336th day, and a little more time to understand leap years, so it was technically the 335th day. Now, turning five, I was happy, because it meant that next year I could go to school. Of course, it wasn’t a very good thing,”  Tyler gave a sad laugh “School meant just learning how to write and learning the perverted version of history they would give us, and in a few years, learning whatever skills they wanted me to so I could work, but I didn’t care. I could at least get to know some other people. They could try to smother our sense of self all they wanted, but I still had a lot of personality left. I wanted more Ethans, more people to talk to me about everything that could be outside the city walls.”

“Unfortunately, that didn’t go as I planned.”

“The day I turned five, we had Prayers, like every day. We were not allowed to celebrate birthdays, or anything else, really, but my mother baked me a cake. She did it every year, one of her secrets, but we almost ran late because we were eating, and having fun together, which was rare, and we lost track of time. I remember it so well. You could never miss prayers, not even if you were sick or unable to walk, you had to get someone to carry you. So we almost got late, and we sat by the corridor in the prayer room, which was something we never did before.”

Tyler felt like a hook was pulling his insides. This was the part he was the most scared to tell.

“Then they entered, like they did every time. The bishops. That’s what they called themselves. I was terrified of them, like everyone else, but only then I realized that, being by the corridor, meant I would be closer to them than I ever did. I whispered that to my mother, but there were no other seats free, so she told me it was ok, that they would just pass by us.”

“And then, when they were passing, one of their robes touched me slightly.”

Tyler clenched his fists. Keeping it together seemed harder than ever.

“The bishop stopped immediately. My mom pulled me to her automatically, saying sorry, thinking I touched one of them. I wasn’t stupid to do that, people who tried touching them without permission had vanished and I knew it. She thought it could be an accident and she started saying how I didn’t mean it.”

“But he looked at me. The bishop. And she stopped talking.”

Tyler pulled an old notebook from the backpack. He opened it to show Jenna a kid’s drawing: a figure in a red robe, looming over a small person in gray. Where the figure’s face should be, there was just a blur.

“They had this… veil covering their faces. With the dimly lit room, we couldn’t really see their features, but I remember the eyes, because he looked straight at me. When I remember it, I think I felt something different, but honestly, it could just be a child’s fear, and I’m projecting stuff nowadays. I’m not sure, really. I just know I was terrified.”

“Then he looked at my mom. And he said, in a raspy, old person’s voice, that she had to talk to them after Prayers. Everyone was staring at us, because they would never talk to the common people like this, randomly, so my mom just nodded. She held me against her during the whole prayer, even after we were all drugged, squeezing me so hard it hurt. Then, after Prayers, she was taken to a room in the back of the building we never saw before. And a man stood between the bishops and us and told my mother she should rejoice, because I was one of the promised vessels.”

Tyler could feel Jenna’s confusion growing, but he had to make another pause. The memory of his mother squeezing him even harder with those words was too much. He tried smiling at Jenna.

“I was just as confused as you are now. But my mother, she was freaking out. She knew better than to cause a scene, no one would oppose the bishops and live to tell the story. But she was holding me with everything she had, trying to argue with them.”

“But what did it mean? What is a promised vessel?”

Tyler sighed. The paranormal side of the story was the worst to be told. There was no good visual representation for that, but he went through the pages of the notebook filled with his childhood drawings of hooded figures just to occupy his hands.

“Remember how I said they would tell us we are all just empty vessels in the end? They meant it literally. The common people like us were supposed to serve only as vessels for immortal entities. That was, supposedly, the ultimate honor. The reality, of course, was that these immortal entities would feed on the energy of the living and left behind empty shells. That was what reaping day meant. But once the soul was gone, their empty vessels were not of much use, so they were just… stored away. For a rainy day, although what they would be good for on a rainy day is beyond me.”

“Now, once these people were… consumed by the immortals, they were toast, and the immortals returned to their own physical form. The bishops, of course. They had human bodies – or at least, bodies that were once human. But the souls inside were gone a long time ago. So the bottom line is, the entities needed physical forms, and so they became the bishops, and everyone else was just… well, food.” Tyler took a look at Jenna. She was staring at the drawings in the notebook, and wouldn’t even blink. “Are you with me so far?”

Jenna nodded, without looking up. Tyler sighed and just continued, unable to stop at this point.

“So, obviously, the bodies that… contained the bishops, they could not be ordinary. They had to be stronger than everyone else. Not physically strong, but… you know. They had to be different. Those were the promised vessels.” Tyler took one more look at Jenna and registered her frown. She was understanding where he was going to.

“They wanted you to be one of them” she whispered.

“Oh, they didn’t want. They demanded. See, their leader, N…Geez” Tyler chuckled “I can’t even say their names.”

“These things had names?” Jenna blurted out, disgusted.

“Oh, they did. We were not allowed to say their names out loud, though. Nowadays I wouldn’t give a shit, but saying it makes me sick. Maybe they did succeed in programming me for that. Anyways” Tyler nodded to himself, taking a deep breath “Their leader. I always called him Blurryface. You know, because of the veil” Tyler added, pointing at one of the drawings “But also because… I was so terrified of him that whenever he looked at me, I would feel like everything was out of focus, even his face. So, the thing is, Blurryface was old. Older than the others. His physical body didn’t have that many years left, and he needed a new vessel. Guess who was being prized with the task.”

Jenna’s body jerked in a strange way, making Tyler raise his eyebrows, confused. She needed a moment to be able to speak.

“You were a tiny kid!”

“Well, yes” Tyler nodded, feeling touched that she was so outraged for him. “That was kind of the point. If they could bring me in so young, the dude wouldn’t have to worry for a long time. But it was a long process. They couldn’t just take me out of this body, like they did with the sacrifices.” Tyler’s tone was getting even more devoid of emotion, and Jenna was starting to worry. “They had to prepare me, for a long time, until I could finally… share the space. My soul wouldn’t leave. It would die. It would be slowly suffocated until it was gone. They told my mother all of this” Tyler explained, trying to imprint some more emotion on his voice, without much success. “It’s weird how well I remember. I also remember their… tone. They would frame this as it was a good thing. Like we were receiving a blessing. When I say ‘they’, I really mean one of the helpers, one of the people in the community who assisted the bishops directly during Prayers and stuff. But the bishops themselves were silent the whole time.”

“But my mother, she was not having it. She was not as brainwashed as they would like, you see. And they knew it. She started to spiral down with her arguments. Saying things she shouldn’t, like that I was such a good boy, so smart and creative.”

“Let me guess” Jenna interjected, bitter. She was starting to understand how that society worked, and she didn’t enjoy the feeling. “Creativity was not encouraged.”

“Nope. Neither was being good or smart or… anything. They didn’t like personality, remember? But here’s the thing, for a promised vessel? That was actually ideal. Only if contained. Only if controlled by them. She just confirmed to them how much of a good option I was. I got kind of mad at her, honestly.”

Jenna squeezed Tyler’s hand, at loss for words.

“Now I know she was losing it, of course. The helper stopped trying to convince her and just looked back at the bishops when he noticed she was on the verge of tears. Me, on the other hand? I was angry. Angry at my mother for saying something that I was sure would get me in trouble, angry at the helper and his stupid, calm face, but most of all; angry at the bishops, because I was starting to understand what was happening. So, from where I was, behind my mother, grabbing her skirt, I started asking her to take me home, in the most annoying way a five year old could do. Another big mistake. Too much personality.”

Tyler instinctively let go of Jenna’s hand and covered his neck with his hands, breathing heavily.

“Blurryface came for me. He did not say a word, to me or my mom. I stopped talking. I froze completely. And then, for some reason I… went to him. I can’t explain. But I just let go of my mom and went to him. He outstretched his hands and…”

Tyler went silent, not realizing that Jenna was holding her breath, expecting him to continue.

“He touched my neck. Barely. He just touched my neck with both his hands, like he was caressing me, and let go. I’ve seen them doing that on sacrifice days. We called is smearing, because it was like they were spreading paint over their necks. I felt myself going cold, starting where he touched me and spreading all over my body. I looked down to my hands and they were all black. And just like that I felt… nothing. I was completely empty.”

“The bishop talked to my mother, but I don’t remember what was said. I couldn’t care, to be honest. Something about how she should think about it. That they would give her some time to consider. She was too horrified to even protest. So she just took me home, sobbing the whole way.”

“Wait, but what did he do to you?” Jenna said, finally, the confusion overcoming her horror for the story. “What happened when he touched you?”

“I don’t know how to explain” Tyler shrugged, apologetic. “It was just what I said. I couldn’t… feel. I was existing. Seeing and hearing, but unable to react to anything. That was the ideal for them, of course, to have people with no free thought. It was like, when he touched me, he removed everything from inside. I knew I should be scared or sad, but I wasn’t sure why, and just the thought of it was tiresome. We went home and I spent about two days like that. My mother would ask me in the morning if I wanted to play, and I would say it was forbidden. I would sit in a corner and still be there when she came home.”

“And after a couple days, I started feeling again, thinking again. Slowly, but it happened. And as soon as I started being myself again, they started trying to convince us to give in.”

“You see, the city had a hierarchy. The bishops ruled, then there were the helpers, who assisted the bishops directly on Prayers and… well, everything. Then there were the traders, who were the only ones who could leave the city every now and then, to get things that the city did not provide, like fabric and medication. They were also the ones who would smuggle goods inside, things we were not supposed to have. And below them were the common people, the workers, people like my mother, who would do everything, from planting crops to building apartments, and everything the city needed. My mother worked making clothes. Two days after that horrible proposal, someone came to our door and gave my mother a white dress, saying that, if she wanted, she was promoted. Only the helpers could wear white. She asked to think about it and no one contested it.”

“Then I got presents. I never had presents before. Small things, really, one day I got a notebook and some pencils, and they said it was for next year, for school. I was still shaken from my encounter with Blurryface, so I questioned what else could I possibly do with them, and the helper that brought it seemed satisfied. My mother was concerned. She would let me use paper and pen to play sometimes and the fact that I didn’t jump at the opportunity to draw the things in my head was a warning sign. Then next day they brought sunglasses. I was excited, because I never had anything like that, but I pointed out there was no sun outside, that was actually kind of chilly. So next day I got a beanie.”

Tyler went through the backpack, taking the things he mentioned from it. He held the red beanie with shaky hands, wondering how was he ever small enough to wear that.

“Another thing that was forbidden was colors. I mean, not the colors itself, they couldn’t avoid the blue of the sky or the green of crops. But we could not use it. So every part of the city was covered in concrete, and we all had the same grey clothes. The very few books in the city were gray, our bed linen was gray, furniture was all plain wood or metal, we had no decorations or anything. So this beanie? This was something else. Because the only people who could wear red were the bishops.”

“So they were officially inviting you in.” Jenna said carefully, and Tyler nodded. Jenna sighed. “I don’t get it. They ruled everything, right? Why didn’t they just force you and your mother to do what they wanted?”

“Ah, that’s an important point” Tyler nodded one more time, stuffing the beanie into the backpack again. It was easier not to look at it. “That’s the main difference between a dictatorship and a cult. Because in a cult, they make you believe you want to do the things they tell you. They wanted to convince my mother, so she would convince me. So of course, they could do that, they could just force us, but as I told you, they wanted compliant people, who were easier to manipulate. To mold. And sure, I think that, had my mother insisted she was not doing that, they would make her go away and force me into their inner circle against my will anyway.”

“But when they gave me the beanie, things changed. I was excited, because I never had anything with colors, but my mother didn’t say anything for a while. When I was… away, she would talk a lot, to try and make me react, but that day she sat down for quite some time, without saying anything, holding the red beanie.”

“Then, long after I went to sleep, she seemed to reach some kind of conclusion. She woke me up in the middle of the night and said we needed to talk. She got me a snack in the dark, because we could not turn on the lights after the curfew, but just being awake and eating after the curfew felt like a rebellion, so she got my attention.”

“She started telling me stories that night. She said she was going to be a helper like they wanted, but that she had a plan and I should trust her. That she would not let them take me. And I did trust her, of course. So the next day she said she would accept the job, they praised her during prayers. She barely looked in my direction while I sat there alone. That became our routine for a while. She didn’t have to work in the mornings anymore, but she would go out anyway. Then she would come home and take me to prayers, without a word. And there, she would work silently, as they wanted, without looking at me.”

“But when we got home, she would hug me so tight I couldn’t breathe, every single time. And every night we would stay up way longer than the curfew. She started telling me everything, about the city, about the bishops, and about the world outside and how different it was.”

“She told me the city had existed for a long time now, longer than most people remembered. That the bishops have been around for a long time as well. And that the city was their… harvest, I guess. All of us in there were not really prisoners. We were food and service. The city was the place they built to be comfortable in this world.”

“Despite the fact that a lot of people were born inside the city and lived their whole lives there, sometimes they would lure people in. People who lost their way in life, in the outside world. If the traders could find people like that, they would bring them inside just like any other asset. My mom, she said her mother died when she was little and her father was an unfit parent. So when she was about 14, they found her living in the streets after running away from a shelter, and they brought her into the city, promising a safe, comfortable life. It was easy to brainwash her, in their eyes, because she had nothing else in the world. They gave her a new life. And stripped away everything she was.”

“Now, the erasing of identity was so strong that the first thing they did was to give her a new name. For the people born in the city, we were not supposed to have names as children. It was not forbidden, and every parent did give a name to their child, but once we went to school, we had only reference numbers. And once we finished school, around 15 years old – I mean, they did not have a lot to teach anyway – we were considered adults and had our names chosen by the bishops, as a way to really disconnect us from our parents. At the age of 20, we would then be assigned our mates.

“They would tell people who to marry?” Jenna blurted out, shocked.

“Yes. And putting together people who had no chemistry seemed like an effective way to make sure the population wouldn’t grow beyond planned. Couples were only allowed to have two children each. If anyone was caught pregnant of a third child… well, it was not pretty. All of these were just the ways they made sure we knew they would control us.”

“But you see, with my mother and father? They made a mistake. My father was also a person who came from the outside. I guess they thought them both were brainwashed beyond repair. But they actually liked each other. They fell in love. And then my mother was pregnant with me, and they decided to run away.”

Tyler bit his lip, anxious. He was not sure how he felt about the father he never met, but he remembered his mother’s expression when she told him about that, and felt a sting in his stomach.

“They knew running was nearly impossible. But my father wanted to try. So he decided to do it alone. That way, if he got caught, he would go down alone, and if he succeeded, he could try to get her out. He never came back, and for my sake, my mother lied and said he abandoned her. She knew he didn’t. The bishops made sure she saw him dead, to discourage her from trying to run as well. So we stayed there.”

“I’m so sorry” Jenna said timidly. Tyler shook his head, unsure of what to say about it.

“She then told me all about the world. Colors, books, tvs. That kids went to school and learned how the earth worked and thousands of years of history. But more than anything, she talked a lot about freedom. About things we could do. Everything sounded crazy to me, and amazing.”

“And then she told me we were going to escape. That she was making sure of it. And that she was not sure when it was happening, but it was soon and I should be ready to go whenever.”

Tyler pulled a little jacket in camo print from the backpack. The yellow tape in it was coming off after all those years.

“One night, she wakes me up and says ‘time to go, sweetie’. And I jump up as fast as I can, even though I was really sleepy. Then she put this jacket on me, and before I can ask where she got it, she took a roll of yellow tape and started cutting pieces of it and covering me in it.”

“I was completely… overwhelmed. She had, all of a sudden, things I’ve never seen in my life. I had never seen camo print. I couldn’t remember really seeing the color yellow, just here in there in lighter shades. She had a flashlight, a black coat for herself, and this backpack” Tyler patted the object in the bed. He sighed. “The fact that only I had a backpack should have been a hint. But I was too young to realize that.”

“We were already outside when I started feeling fully awake. I wanted to ask where we were going, but she had told me to be as quiet as I could. She quickly took me on her arms and carried me, because I could not walk as fast as we had to, so I didn’t even see where we were going until I realized we were closer to the city walls and descending.”

“First we were in complete darkness, and I was getting terrified. Then suddenly the tunnel was warmer and filled with yellow light. I knew there was someone there, but I didn’t see them the way my mother was carrying me. She was talking to that person, too fast and too quietly for me to understand, and then we were running again.”

“And after a while, I felt the cold air around us. I opened my eyes when my mother put me down and… it was… really something.” Tyler smiled to himself. “You see, I was never out of the house at night. On winter, Prayers would end after sunset, but the whole city was covered in neon lights that stayed lit until the curfew. So I had never seen the night sky until that moment. I spent a moment too amazed to say anything. And then I turned around, and I noticed two things. One, there were about five other people there with us, all dressed like me, in camo print and pieces of yellow tape, holding torches. And two, my mother was leaning against one of them, and I could see she was about to pass out.”

“I asked her what was wrong, but she didn’t even acknowledge me. She and the other people were in an argument, and I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I knew it was about me. Thinking back, I realize the argument was how they were going to proceed from there. The people who met us in the tunnel wanted my mother to take me as fast as she could and they would make sure we were safe, but my mother was not well enough to take me. She wanted them to take me, but they said it wasn’t safe. Eventually she convinced them, and I remember her saying something along the lines of ‘all of this will end if we manage to do this.’”

“Who were those people?” Jenna asked in a weak voice.

“I never really knew” Tyler shrugged. “My mother, she got on her knees to talk to me, and I asked it, but she just said they were people who would help us out. We were in a field, with a few sparse trees, and she explained to me that we had to cross a canyon, get to the trees on the other side of the canyon and after that, we would be in the world. She used that word, as if the city and its surroundings were not part of the world, somehow. But then she told me she couldn’t go with me through the canyon. She called it the Trench. I panicked, but she tried to quiet me down, saying we didn’t have time to argue, that it was a long journey, and I had to be as far away as possible by day time, because at any minute now the bishops would know something was wrong. Then she gave me something, and then she said ‘Tyler, you keep those safe. Don’t let anyone take it from you. Not even me. No one.’”

Tyler reached into his bag and took another small object. He opened his hand to show Jenna a small, cheap looking compass. Jenna noticed the object was broken and had blood stains before Tyler pulled it to himself, absentmindedly placing the clenched fist over his chest.

“She gave me this. Told me it was my fathers, and that it will help us through the Trench. I didn’t know jack about compasses, but one of the guys said he would help me. And then she gave me the key. It was a very old looking thing. I knew, the second I looked at it, that it was bad. She forced it into my hand, because I didn’t want to take it, and told me to never, ever leave it out of my sight.”

Tyler fiddled with his phone for a minute. Then he showed Jenna the picture of the key – it was all over the news now. Then he put his phone away without a second look.

“Before I knew, my mom was hugging me and someone was trying to take me, so I obviously threw a fit too big to really get what was happening around me. My mom promised me she would meet me later, and some guy took me from the ground and started walking. Just like that. I was going away from my mom.”

Tyler lost the train of thought for a second. He shook his head, trying to remember he was telling Jenna a story and what was coming next was important.

“Listen, a lot of the things I’m telling you, I remember because of the drawings, and things I’ve written down. In the beginning, I didn’t want to forget, so I had everything on record. And one day I decided to let go of a lot and all that was left was this backpack. But that specific moment is one that got strangely etched into my mind. Me, yelling for my mother, and looking over some guy’s shoulder, seeing her getting farther and farther away, my tears blurring out my sight of her.”

“I… I eventually stopped crying. Out of tiredness, mostly. It hit me that we were already in the Trench. And… when I think about it now, it was a beautiful place. I could see very clearly, because of the stars, and because the men walking with me had torches. Another thing I never saw in the city. All the light in there was neon, all the heat was fake. I never really saw fire until then, and the whole sight was hypnotizing, really. But I was not enjoying anything. I was just too sad.”

“But since I stopped crying, the men surrounding me tried to talk to me. They asked me if I could walk and I just nodded, and then they started making conversation. I didn’t say anything. I was afraid to ask what the hell was going on.”

“Finally, one of them said he knew I was worried about my mom. That got my attention. But he simply said she wasn’t alone, that a friend of theirs was with her. I didn’t understand, really, why he sounded so grim. I was relieved. I was sure that it meant she was going to meet with us later.”

“We walked like that for a while, and I had a vague sense of expectation. I knew they were waiting for something. I was too, half expecting to be dragged back somehow. The bishops knew everything. There was no way they didn’t know we were out.”

“Finally, one of the guys walking behind yelled something. That was the sign the others were waiting for. The guy beside me grabbed me without even saying anything and started running. He told me to keep my eyes closed and I did, without asking why, because I was sure I didn’t want to see it. When screams filled the air, I didn’t want to know where they were coming from.”

“And then we had one less companion. The guy holding me put me down after a while and his friend asked if he wanted to take turns, but, the guy just said he had to save his strength for later. They weren’t trying to make conversation anymore. They were alert, the guy by my side with a hand on my shoulder, prompting me to walk as fast as I could. Then another scream of warning, he took me from the ground and ran again, and I closed my eyes without being asked.”

“From the five people who guided my mother in the tunnel, there were only two with me, now. One stayed behind with my mother, and two were obviously taken by Blurryface. I somehow knew that. I had no intention of looking back to see him after us, and just hoped we got to the forest before he reached us. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew that he could not follow us in the forest. The sky was getting clearer, and I was hopeful.”

“But then it happened again. The other guy remaining screamed and the last one ran with me in his arms one more time. But this time, when he put me down, he seemed more desperate than determined. He looked me in the eye and instructed  me, very urgently. He told me to run as fast as I could, and to not stop until I reached the trees on the other side. He showed me the compass and how to check it, to make sure I was going straight, even through the woods, because then I could end up in the outside world. And he said he was going to follow me from a distance and try and stall the bishop, but it was a long shot. So I shouldn’t stop, not even if I heard him scream. I just agreed. I ran.”

“You can imagine, five year old legs are not very fast” Tyler tried to joke, because Jenna was covering her mouth now, in horror “But I was highly motivated. I could actually see the trees in the distance. So I was feeling a mixture of relief, hope, and fear of getting caught last second.”

“Well… you made it, right?” Jenna cut him. She was breathing heavily, anxious for that story to be over. Tyler tried to smile, but his face turned it into a grimace.

“Not that easily. First I… I heard the screams, like the guy said I would. Then I heard him coming. From a long way, way. Maybe not really listen, more like I… felt it. I tried to keep going, but at some point I just… my legs were giving up. Not because I was tired.  But I felt like… there was no point on going on. I was starting to feel that… void inside of me again, but this time he hadn’t touched me.”

“That’s a lot for a five year-old to feel” Jenna said timidly. Tyler nodded. He could hear the hint of pity in her voice, and that was harder than anything else.

“I stopped running” Tyler said with no emotion whatsoever. The void he felt as a child seemed to seep through inside him again with the memory. “I turned around and looked back. He was coming, mounted on a white horse. And I could… hear him. Inside my head.”

Tyler stayed quiet all of a sudden. Jenna wanted to ask what he heard being said, but she knew it was bad, apparently too bad for him to speak about.

“I didn’t want to run anymore. He was really convincing. I know you are curious, but it doesn’t matter what exactly he said” Tyler added, making Jenna flinch, shocked that he was so on point about her own thoughts “It was more… concepts than words. I can’t explain. But the hopelessness he transmitted to me. The feeling that… moving forward was not worth it. That got to me.”

“He got off the horse and started walking towards me, and he was probably very confident I wasn’t going to run away, because he was taking his time. And honestly? I wasn’t running away. I just stopped and lowered my head and accepted my fate.”

“But then I saw the flowers.”

Tyler reached inside the backpack one more time and took another notebook. But when he opened, Jenna didn’t see any drawings, only a dried-out yellow gerbera daisy.

“I don’t really know how they grew out there, it wasn’t really the best environment for them. But those flowers were just growing  in the Trench, I guess like sometimes flowers grow in the pavement. But for some reason, looking at them reminded me of my mother. I remembered her a little earlier, even if it felt like a thousand years, putting pieces of yellow tape all over me. And then I remembered the people that helped us,  all covered in yellow as well. I remembered that they gave their lives just so I could escape the city. Escape Blurryface. It was the color” Tyler added for a slightly confused Jenna. “Yellow. They can’t see yellow. I knew that for some reason, even though this was my first contact with that color. That color disturbs them. And it reminded me of everything important. So I turned around and ran again.”

Tyler felt a sting in his stomach again. He took a deep breath.

“He ran after me. On foot, not just because the horse was too far away, but because it was stupidly easy to get me. I mean, he was an elderly dude, but my legs were way shorter. I ran as fast as I could by very soon he got to me. Then everything was… very confusing.”

“I know he grabbed me and lifted me from the ground. I remember kicking and screaming. Then, instinctively, I tried hitting him with the only thing I could think of, the compass in my hand. I  hit him in the face. I know I did because he screamed and let go of me, and when I looked at the compass, it had blood in it. I took one look at him and I saw the open, bleeding wound over his eye. And then I started running again, but honestly, I didn’t think I would go far.”

“But Blurryface never followed me. I think something else happened when I hit him. I have no idea why it would be so hard for him to follow a five year old with a cut over the eye. I think I… did something to him? Like, I really hurt him? But that doesn’t make sense. I never found out.”

“But I kept running. I didn’t waste any time trying to figure it out, but I did look behind once or twice, and he stayed there, fallen on his knees, screaming with his hands over his face. His screams eventually faded into distance, and thankfully, I got to the forest. And I thought to myself, ‘it’s over. I’m really out.’”

“I didn’t realize at the time it would never be really over.”


	5. Outside the city (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation to Tyler's story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is over 13k words. You've been warned.  
> I was gonna apologize for the delay but at this point the three people who read this already gave up so there's that.  
> Also this chapter is very dumb im not even sorry  
> This is what happens when you decide to disclose a character's whole backstory that is so complicated and complete in your head. This happens.

“The first important thing about the forest: My mother was there.”

Jenna frowned.

“How did she get there?”

“Honestly, I didn’t really care” Tyler shrugged. “I thought I was never going to see her again. Then I was a few feet into the forest and I saw her, in her white dress, just standing there and smiling, calling for me. My first instinct was not to ask any questions, I just ran right into her arms.” Tyler smiled to himself for a moment. “Of course, right after that I asked her how she got there before me, but she said it was not important. I didn’t ask twice, either. I was too small, too tired and I was having a long day even though the sun was just rising.” Tyler chuckled, but Jenna could not even try to smile.

“She told me we had to get going, that I would only really be safe when I found the road on the other side of the trees, but I hesitated and explained I had broken my compass. I showed it to her and she analyzed it for a second, but she didn’t ask me how I broke it or why there was blood on it. She just explained that it was still working, but I didn’t get a lot from that. Something about how east was up and that was where we were going? I don’t know. I was too busy looking at her. She seemed better than ever, happier, healthier. I couldn’t comprehend exactly what was going on. But she said I could put the compass in my backpack since she was going to walk with me, and I obliged, because all that mattered was that she was there.”

“Those hours in the forest were some of the best of my life. I don’t remember seeing my mother smiling a lot before that, but in those hours she was smiling non-stop. And I didn’t smile a lot before either, but I couldn’t stop smiling along with her. We talked so much that day, too, more than ever, because even if we had late night conversations before escaping, they were always rushed and quiet, filled with the fear of getting caught.”

“At some point, she started singing to herself. She caught me staring, mesmerized, and told me she had to teach me about music, so I could understand about the outside world. She spent a while teaching me some nursery rhymes, and no one I’ve ever met could understand the kind of emotion they can have to me. Songs everybody recognizes and no one really knows where they came from, but for me, they are all my mother’s. I suppose everyone can associate nursery rhymes to their childhood, to their mothers’ voices, but nothing like this. Nothing like being five years old, in a forest, hearing them from your mother for the first time. She repeated everything until I could sing along with her. I never wanted her to stop singing with me.”

Tyler took a moment, his eyes closed, and he seemed so peaceful with the memory Jenna didn’t dare to disrupt him. Finally, he opened his eyes and sighed.

“Eventually, she had to stop. We were finally closer to the highway. I could hear the cars coming and for a moment I was scared. I have seen cars entering and leaving the city before, but nothing like that. I jumped away from the general direction of the noise, and my mother kneeled and held me, calming me down. But her face was not calm and I knew she was about to tell me something important.”

“She looked me in the eye and said ‘Tyler, I need you to pay attention now. I cannot go with you from here. You need to find help alone.’ I immediately freaked out, of course. I had just found her again. But there was something about her tone that was so urgent that I went quiet. She explained to me that I was supposed to walk by the side of the road for some time until I reached a certain building. It was a police station. She told me to tell them my name and that I needed help, that I should tell them I escaped some very bad people and that they should look inside my backpack, because she wrote a letter explaining everything. She said that after that, I could help them find her. She promised everything would be okay after that.” Tyler looked at Jenna with sad eyes. “I presumed it meant we would have a normal life. I asked her that, if we could have a normal life after that and she said yes. I didn’t catch her hesitation, I was too young to understand.”

“Oh, Tyler” Jenna whispered, reaching for his hand and squeezing it gently.

“She gave me a lot of pointers after that, still” Tyler said, trying to keep a normal tone, but feeling his throat was tighter. “To not accept rides if anyone offered it and that it was a lot of walking but I had to go and not stop until I got there, and to only talk to someone if they were in a police uniform or if they came in a police car. And she said ‘Tyler, you need to speak with your voice’. So I agreed.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Jenna frowned. That sounded strange. “What does that mean?”

Tyler lowered his head. He instinctively squeezed her hand in his, scared that this would be the thing to push her away.

“I didn’t… I didn’t always… had to use my voice.” He looked at Jenna carefully and she still seemed confused, so he took a deep breath. “I didn’t always had to speak in the city. Sometimes I would think something and my mother could hear me. Sometimes other people could too. You know how I said that I could hear Blurryface inside my head in the Trench? As scary as he was, I wasn’t surprised. I hadn’t realized until then that this thing I could do, and he could do, was not something usual, that no one else did.”

Jenna’s body jerked back in surprise, but she did not pull her hand away, so Tyler decided to take that as a sign that not all hope was lost and just continued talking.

“So… I left. I looked at her one more time, happy, promised I would get back to her with help and… and left. Turned my back and left.”

Tyler went silent for so long after this that Jenna, for a moment, thought he ended the story there. She opened her mouth to say something when he breathed in and started talking again, staring at their united hands.

“I left the woods and I walked by the side of the road as she instructed me. Just remembering it now I feel tired, but as a child, I was pretty determined, so I barely felt it. The only thing on my mind was to get to the police station, as my mother told me to. Some cars, every now and then, would slow down and the people in it would talk to me, ask me if I was lost, but I didn’t even look their way and no one tried too much.”

“That’s a little concerning.” Jenna mumbled “A five year old walking alone by the side of the road and no one helped?”

Tyler shrugged as well.

“I walked for about five or six hours, and then I finally reached the police station. To say that a five year old walking alone in the building was calling attention is an understatement. But I did everything my mother told me to, walked to an officer who looked very solicit, said what she told me to say and he took her letter in the backpack. And as he read, his face fell. He ran to the other officers and everything after that was a blur.”

“Back up, back up” Jenna said softly “What was in the letter?”

“A lot” Tyler sighed “It became evidence, but after the investigation, a detective felt bad for me and gave me a copy. I don’t have it anymore, I threw it away during an episode of teenage angst. But it was essentially what I told you, except with a lot more detail and proof. For example, my mother had attached her old documents and my dad’s. They were listed as missing people. She put up a whole list of people who went to the city and never came back, all missing people. And turns out, there were rumors of it, for years. About this cult, this city hidden in the woods, where people disappeared. But that was the first time there was any proof.”

“In the middle of the confusion, some nice detective asked me if I was hungry. I realized that I was not only hungry, but also tired and feeling very hot from all the walking, so she took me to a room where they gave me chocolate milk. Another thing I had never seen before, and suddenly my favorite food” Tyler chuckled. “They let me stay in that room with a sandwich for some time and she subtly asked me questions, to see if I knew where my mother was and if I knew how to go back to the city. I knew, if I saw it, I told her.”

“They took you back?” Jenna sounded concerned.

“In a way. They told me they needed my help to get there, because according to my mom’s letter, there were a lot of people there that needed help. I was terrified, of course, I definitely did not want to see any of the bishops ever again, but they convinced me. And honestly, it made sense to me. Why else would the bishops be so concerned about people knowing about the world outside? Of course it meant they were afraid of whoever was outside. And if these were the people who took down bad guys, of course they could take down the bishops. So I agreed. To be honest, all I wanted was to get back to my mother.”

“But… you said the whole thing with the bishops was… paranormal” Jenna said, forcing the last word as if she could not believe what she was saying “How could the police deal with that?”

Tyler gave a smirk, uncomfortable.

“I did not… realize that at the time. I did not know that all of that was weird or paranormal, I don’t think I would know that word. I tried explaining to them how dangerous the bishops were, but of course, every strange thing I said was written off as something made up by a little child raised inside a religious cult. It didn’t matter in the end.”

“So, there was a whole rescue party. I went ahead with the two detectives that first talked to me, mostly cause they gained my trust already and two more officers, and a big squad followed. I told them where to go, but when we got to the forest, we had to go on foot. I was so sure we would find my mother as soon as we started walking, but she wasn’t there.” Tyler went silent again. He took a few breaths and blinked very fast, so Jenna stared at their hands as well when he spoke again. “In summary, I explained how I got there, every direction my mother gave me, and they seemed to have enough to understand how to make the way back. I’m sure no one expected that much walking, there was no way they could bring a car through that. I heard they discussing horses but that didn’t happen, and then after a while I heard a loud noise. They told me not to worry, it was just a helicopter, but it didn’t make a difference, because I never had seen one. They had to explain it too.”

“Then we crossed the Trench again. I was so sure Blurryface would still be there, bleeding and screaming, that I hesitated when we reached the trees line, but I could not see him anywhere. So we kept walking. The adults around me would talk a lot, sometimes offer me water, sometimes complain about how long the walk was, but apart from accepting water a couple times, I didn’t pay them any attention. I was focused on the path. I wanted to find my mother. I was more scared in that moment than I had been before, because if she wasn’t in the forest were I left her, I had no idea where she was.”

Tyler automatically squeezed Jenna’s hand, to the point it hurt, but she just squeezed it back. He seemed hesitant so she tried to encourage him.

“Did you find her?”

Tyler nodded, trying to speak without crying.

“She was in the woods. The ones surrounding the city. Where I first left her.”

Jenna shook her head, confused.

“I don’t…”

“Obviously, during our long walk in the Trench, we found something” Tyler said in a monotone voice, ignoring the question in her voice for the moment being. “Four bodies. The men who brought me through the Trench. They were all… in a gruesome state and the police officers tried to shield me from the view, but I didn’t… I was not surprised. I knew they were dead, obviously, they didn’t survive Blurryface, no one could, I was not sure how I did it. But I was hopeful, still, because I saw my mother, right? So we proceeded to the woods near the city. Looking then, we could see the city walls now, but they still wanted me to show the way we left, because barging in still seemed dangerous, and I agreed because I imagined, of course my mother would be somewhere along the same path we made. She was, actually. We found her exactly where she told those men to take me, where she seemed about to pass out, still wearing her black coat and… dead. She was laying in the grass, like she was sleeping, except so much more… cold. The detectives said something about her being dead for about eighteen hours. She died right after I left her.”

Jenna raised her eyebrows. She couldn’t bring herself to ask, but she didn’t have to.

“I don’t understand it either” Tyler said, not even realizing she didn’t ask the question verbally “I can’t explain it. All I know is what I saw. She left me before the Trench. She met me after the Trench. She guided me the whole way. And then I found help. But she was dead the whole time, way before I escaped by the Trench. She got me out. And I never understood it.”

“I… I froze after that. I was in shock, apparently. I sat on the grass by her side, ignoring the other mangled body, of the person who had stayed with her, and I stalled everyone for like half an hour. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t leave her again. There was nothing on my mind, except that we both at least were outside the city and together. I didn’t care about anything or anyone else. I wanted to lay in the grass with her and die too.”

“Tyler…”

“The detectives kneeled down and tried reasoning with me” Tyler continued, not acknowledging the pity in Jenna’s tone. “They talked to me for a long time but I barely registered. At some point, one of them said ‘Tyler, we need your help so we can help other people’. I still didn’t care, but it called my attention that she used my name, I was not used to that. Only my mother would call me by my name. Her and Ethan.”

“Then I remembered Ethan. The almost friend I had, a kid I knew for just a few days and I hoped would be a friend, but the bishops took that away from me. I realized they most likely took my mother too, somehow. And finally it hit me they, the detectives, were right. There were other people in the city who needed help. I could not allow the bishops to keep taking people away from each other anymore. So I got up and walked with them. But I didn’t want to speak. I felt like I couldn’t. I just led them through the tunnel, not even waiting until everyone turned on flashlights. It was already after dark, but I didn’t care.”

Tyler let go of Jenna’s hand, running his hands through his hair. Jenna stared at him, confused, but Tyler was angry with the memory and didn’t feel like explaining that.

“Anyway. The first thing I noticed was that the city seemed way darker than usual. All the external lights were lit, but no lights inside any of the apartments. I knew right away something was wrong. The detectives asked me what was going on, where were the people, and I had no idea. I wanted to tell them that, at that hour, people should be getting home from Prayers and preparing for bed. I didn’t say anything, though, because I still didn’t feel like talking, and the officers around me were too shocked with the existence of a perfect concrete city in the middle of nowhere to say anything. There was a whole S.W.A.T. team with us, all of them alert, but I had a sinking feeling we didn’t need that anymore.”

“So… I did something without meaning to. I could feel something, in the back of my mind, like a sixth sense that I was constantly fighting. I wasn’t sure why, but I always ignored this… thing in my head. That time I didn’t. I closed my eyes and just allowed that strange feeling make sense inside my head. And when I opened my eyes again, I knew we were too late.”

“Why?” Jenna asked, surprising herself with how low her tone was, but she was starting to realize Tyler didn’t really need to listen to the question.

“I just… led them again. I knew where to go next. So I walked to the right place, not afraid of crossing paths with the bishops anymore.” Tyler looked at Jenna for the first time in a while, and realized he was talking a lot more to himself than to her. He sighed, trying to explain things more clearly. “I led them to the Prayer room, I just knew people had to be there. I didn’t know why, but I was sure it was the place to go. When we got there…” Tyler paused again. He wanted to be concise, but he was sure how Jenna was going to react, and he was not looking forward to that. He tried to keep his pace. “They were all dead. Every single person in the city, they were all dead. Every man, woman and child. They were all sitting there, some fallen over each other, some people embraced together. But all of them dead. Just like my mother.”

Tyler looked intentively at Jenna, expecting her to react, but she was too shocked to make the connection he  expected. Her eyes were watering and Tyler tried to give her a moment, but when she didn’t react he just kept talking.

“Then there were the bishops, of course. They were there too. Eight figures in red, dead in their stupid thrones.”

“Eight?” Jenna muttered.

“Yeah” Tyler nodded, feeling angrier than before. “The chair in the center was empty. Blurryface was nowhere to be seen.”

“Oh my god, Ty…”

“I didn’t really care in that moment” Tyler shook his head “I mean, I knew what it meant, but I didn’t care. Obviously he was not dead. None of them were. The bodies they stored away” Tyler explained when Jenna frowned “I was sure they had escaped. Bishops were not people, remember, they just had physical forms they could change into. So if there were eight bodies there, obviously those vacant bodies had a place to go. Maybe they could just use those empty bodies from sacrifices temporarily, maybe they found promised vessels on a pinch. But Blurryface couldn’t. He needed me for that, and I guess, because he was the strongest one and the leader, he didn’t want to risk a temporary vessel. Not with me out there. So while the police called for reinforcement for all those casualties, I realized all the bishops had escaped to other vessels, after killing my mother and all the people in the city, and to top that, Blurryface was most likely still crawling in his old body, craving for mine.”

“It got worse. I know” Tyler shook his head when Jenna raised her eyebrows, tears now running down her face. Tyler wanted to comfort her, but he needed to say everything first. “A room full of dead people in front of an altar, how much worse can it get, right? Well. They really thought they seen the worst of it too, and honestly, so did I. They asked me if I wanted to go to my house in the city, because they wanted to see the living conditions, but I didn’t want to. They asked me if I wanted to leave, because after a while they found all the other entries to the city, the ones we couldn’t use to escape before since they were guarded, so then reinforcement was coming with cars and everything. I wasn’t sure what to do, so the detective allowed me to tag along with her, while she explored the city to see if they could find anyone else. I knew she wouldn’t, no one could miss prayers.”

“After a while, we found something worse.” Tyler hesitated again. “A big field, in a part of the city I’ve never been to. It was covered by graves. I mean, covered, really. Imagine… a very big stadium. That was the size of the field. Every centimeter of if had a grave. And in the dark, we could see, every single one was marked in neon. There was a plaque in front of the field. A sign celebrating those who dedicated themselves to the cause. Celebrating their deaths. Saying their graves were decorated with neon as a sign of appraisal. It would honestly be hauntingly beautiful, if it wasn’t the saddest thing I ever witnessed.”

Tyler watched Jenna cover her mouth with the slightest frown. And there it was. He could see, in the forefront of her mind, the impression she heard the story before.

“After the neon gravestones, I was done. I tugged on the woman’s shirt and hoped she would understand I wanted to leave. I really gave up on talking at that point. She was crying too, and I learned later she was someone who never cried. So she took me back with her to the police station, asking the people in there to finish the swipe, even if she had also realized there was no one else in the city, because she couldn’t do it anymore, and it was the last time I set foot in there.”

“I think at that point they realized there was nothing more I could help with, there was nothing else that could be done. There was a cult, and everyone was dead now, and all that was left to do was to send me to the foster system since now I had no one else. But they were still lost, I think they still felt like they needed answers, and I was the sole survivor. So over the next… 48 hours they kept me around in the precinct, I slept in a couch when I got tired, and no one question it too much because everyone involved was too shocked to think it through, that maybe involving a five year old in an investigation like that was not a great idea. They were more concerned about the fact that, since finding my mother, I had not said another word.”

“The main thing they found in the city, apart from the city itself and all the bodies and graves, was a tape. One of the helpers, dead at the foot of the bishops, was holding a videotape, and the police quickly realized it was a message. They asked me if I wanted to see it and honestly, I did. I was kind of curious, too. I wondered how they did it, how they figured out they were about to be busted and killed the entire city.”

“Wait” Jenna said suddenly. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she was wiping the tears from her face, absentmindedly, confused. Tyler gave her a sad smile.

“You heard this story before, didn’t you?” he said gently, and she looked even more confused. “Probably in passing, maybe you read about it in some corner of the internet, or a Buzzfeed article on like, the ten most horrifying real cult stories. Think about it a little” Tyler encouraged her, the faint memory in her head starting to surface “A city run by a cult in the middle of nowhere, everyone dead except one little child, sent away by his mother, a cemetery covered in neon, and the only thing left to explain what happened there is a videotape?”

Jenna gasped, comprehension hitting her.

“The Ohio Horror?” She said in shock. Tyler’s face was a mix of amusement for her reaction and the embarrassment he would always feel when people said those words. She noticed his discomfort and tried to tune down her reaction. “I… read about it. I remember, when I was a teenager, you know, I had a phase… reading creepy stuff on the internet, dressing in all black… I know” she shook her head when Tyler raised his eyebrows “The early 2000’s were weird for everyone. Anyway, I remember something like that. Everyone heard of it, the Ohio Horror, a cult in the middle of the woods were the police found everyone dead. I read some articles that talked about it broadly, but I don’t remember a lot of details. I just read a lot of things like that back then. Well, I’m guessing now, nothing like quite like that” she corrected herself quickly, feeling like that would be a disrespect to Tyler’s story “But as a teenager reading stories in my room, I kind of never thought any of that was real.”

Tyler let out a sad laugh.

“They wanted to call it ‘the Ohio Jonestown’, the press. But the police made it very clear it was wrong. It wasn’t the same. It was not collective suicide. It was murder.”

Jenna watched Tyler’s dark expression carefully.

“What was in that tape?” she asked, and he tried to get back on track.

“A lot of religious nonsense” Tyler sighed, shaking his head “Of course I didn’t think much of it, but the police was horrified with their craziness. The helper found with it was the one speaking in the video. He opened it explaining about the city, the religion, their beliefs, their dedication to the bishops and how much they believed it. He talked about how the rest of the world was doomed with its own ignorance but they… or us, in the city, we were supposedly blessed. I kind of rolled my eyes to the whole thing, it was the same crap I heard every day of my life until then. But then he talked about that day, and it got my attention.”

“He said that day, they found they were betrayed. He said that with a lot more words, but basically, they knew that me escaping meant it was a matter of hours until they got caught, so he said that the community gathered for a last Prayer and was taken for the last appraisal, which was his way of saying they had no idea they were getting killed. There was a lot more zealot bullshit after that, but I heard enough. The police was soon done with it, and then everything made sense.”

“They explained to me the contents of my mother’s letter, and there was even more than I told you. They explained to me the connections they made, their findings in the city. So finally they had a case, but there was not much for them to do with it. I think they just felt like I deserved to know.”

“Basically… my mother’s letter told about the whole thing, but it also said, and they only told me that in that moment, that she knew, being a helper, what their plans really were. They told her that if she really was willing to let me be… raised by the bishops, she had to prove it, by sacrificing herself. She knew she had to agree, otherwise they would prevent our escape, and asked only for a few days to prepare herself. So she spent that time preparing to get me out. She never really expected to escape with me. Then that day, it was the day they had set for her… they made her drink something, and… that was that. She told them she was going home to see me one last time and wait for death, then she took me away. She said in the letter she found a way to ask for help on the outside, but she never explained who those guys were. She also said they all knew it was a one way trip. That everyone involved knew the risk but they wanted to do it, because it could be the end of the bishops.”

“But based on the things the helper said in the tape and their findings in the city… it took them only a few hours to realize we escaped. Blurryface came after me alone because they figured it wouldn’t be hard to get me. And somehow, I escaped, somehow, he was not able to follow me. So he went back to the city, and warned the others, so they served some water to everyone during Prayers with some bullshit excuse, and while everyone died, the bishops escaped. Of course, to the police, only one bishop escaped, and I was not going to break my silence to explain they were mistaken. I understood, by then, that they were not going to believe me if I explained the bishops were ethereal entities. Either way, officially the eight bishops killed themselves after killing everyone else, and Blurryface escaped – the police presumed he chickened out – and they knew he wanted to find me, but they had no leads. Their case went cold as soon as they opened it. There was nothing else they could do.”

“And… that was the end of the city. Everyone was dead, the police had a ton of evidence of what happened there, but no one to save, Blurryface was after me but they could not find him, and me… I had nothing else to do. I could not help with the investigation, I had no other information, at least nothing they would believe in, and even if I did I seemed to lose the ability to speak. So it was the end for me, too.”

“I have a lot to thank those detectives. Within hours of the discovery of the city, the press started to hound them, the precinct, trying to get more information about the case. I mean, it was a big one. But they hid the fact that there was a survivor, they said at the time they found the city with an anonymous tip, and the one time a reporter saw me walking around they said I was just a lost child they had to send to the foster system. They did that, in the end. They had to, there was nothing else they could do for me, so they sent me to an orphanage. My records were sealed, due to the unique nature of my case, they had my identity protected and never revealed to the public. It was the 90’s, so no one could take a hidden picture of me with their phone and put it on the internet, and hiding me was easy even after someone leaked to the press there was a survivor that was sent to an orphanage.”

“I spent the next two years in foster care. They had a child psychiatrist evaluate me before I even set foot in a group home and he diagnosed me with PTSD and selective mutism. As you may imagine, that didn’t make me very popular with the other kids. I mean, that, and the fact that even if my records were sealed, most people seemed to know something about where I came from. In the beginning, braver kids would come up to me and ask me if it was true I was from a satanic cult, but they never got an answer, so one day a ten year old got mad I wouldn’t respond and hit me in the face. I don’t know exactly what happened. But I fell to the ground and got angry, and I just looked at him, that’s all. He took one look at my face and started screaming bloody murder. The other kids also seemed terrified of whatever it was they saw in me. But whatever happened, I never made friends after that. The other kids didn’t even want to sleep in the same room as me.”

“I bounced around three different homes in that time. Eventually it would become impossible for the adults to make the other kids to accept me, and in every home something weird enough would happen to make the kids scared of me. I had night terrors, horrible nightmares, and no matter how much therapy they made me do, nothing seemed to help. I still wasn’t talking, and therapists had a hard time communicating with me, even if they made me draw things” he agitated one of the notebooks in his hand. “They could not convince me the things I’ve seen and lived were not real, and they seemed to think that this was the only path for me to… be better.”

“Funny thing, I was kind of a cute child” Tyler joked, trying to lighten the mood, and Jenna let out a humorless laugh “Several times, couples showed up to adoption events and seemed interest in adopting me, but whenever that happened, social workers had to disclose how… problematic I was, and even if they were okay with handling a mute traumatized child, upon hearing about the goddamn Ohio Horror they would always leave me in the dust. Honestly, I was fine with it” Tyler said, shrugging, before Jenna could say how messed up that was on the adults part “I wasn’t expecting to get a family or… anything. I was just going through the motions by then. My mother was dead and my whole life until that point was over, so I just kept going where I was told to go because that was the only thing I learned in the city, to do what I was told to and following orders to stay alive. That is not such a bad thing, you know? Staying alive was already something. It matters. It might not be what the bishops intended, but had I not learned to stay alive, I wouldn’t have made it.”

Tyler gave Jenna a moment, because she seemed on the verge of tears again. Jenna, in turn, felt bad with that, because what Tyler went through was terrible and she felt like she should be the one doing concessions for him.

“How did you end up with Kelly then?” Jenna said, trying to keep her tone casual despite the tightening in her throat.

“Interesting story” Tyler responded, knowing what Jenna was doing but allowing her to do so because that was where the story was going. “By the time I was seven I was deemed ready to go to school, and although school was hell because of all the socialization I couldn’t do, learning how to read and to write was a breakthrough, because I could finally communicate. I didn’t do a lot of it, though, because I felt like there was not much I had to say.”

“Mom… Kelly, at that time, already had three children and no good reason for a fourth one who was a really messed up case. But one day she shows up at an adoption drive, and wanders into the house. I didn’t even left my room, because what was the point, right? But Kelly for some reason went there… looking for me. She didn’t tell me that at the moment. She just found me and started talking to me. I’m not sure why, but I felt like responding her, so I grabbed a paper and started writing responses. She just asked me my name and how I was doing and if I didn’t want to go outside because the day was nice. I’m not sure why I went with her but I felt… comfortable for the first time in a long time. Maybe ever since being with my other mom, eating cake in the city. And next thing I know, Kelly shows up a few more times to see me, and then she wants to adopt me. When the social workers said that, I barely reacted because I knew how that was, they would say that, I would pack up, they would tell the prospecting parents my back story and I had to unpack. But Kelly didn’t back out. If anything, she was so horrified on my behalf it made her want to adopt me more. I was listening behind the door of the social worker and I heard her crying ‘that poor child’. Either way, I went back to my room to wait for the social worker to tell me she gave up, but Kelly came instead, her eyes red from crying, but she was smiling and telling me to hurry up cause we were going home.”

Tyler smiled to himself. His expression was changed, and Jenna could see this was the part the story was getting less grim.

“I was eager to go with her because I was not a fan of the group home I was in, but I wasn’t really expecting to have a family. It was her and my dad, and she had three other children, so to me it was just a different kind of group home. I was sure that as soon as the night terrors started she would rethink her choice, but she didn’t. My first night with her, she ran to my new room when I started screaming, woke me up and stayed with me as I cried. She told me then why she adopted me. She said that, over the last two years she had the same dream constantly. She was sitting on a bench on a park, watching my brothers and sister playing, when a young woman in white would come to her, smiling. They’d exchange pleasantries and she would ask the woman if she had children and the woman would point to me and say ‘just Tyler’. I would be playing by myself. Kelly would tell her it looked like I needed friends, and then the woman’s face would change. She seemed sad, and she would grab her hands and say, very seriously ‘Tyler needs a mom, Kelly, he needs a family. Please find him. I need you to find him’. Kelly tried to brush off the feeling she had with the dream, but one day she was in church, and they had a charity event to help a group home nearby, and on the flier for the event there was a picture of the kids, including me. Mom said she freaked out a little” Tyler laughed “But she figured, that was some kind of message from God for her to help a child in need. She said the more she learned about me, the more she felt like she was supposed to do that. So when the social worker showed her my file, she saw the picture of my mother and realized it was the same woman in her dream. My birth mom had chosen her to be my new mom. And she complied.”

“Life was… good, then” Tyler said softly, tilting his head. “I was a little jumpy and mute, but I was starting to see I was not going anywhere. Mom and dad treated me like, well, their child, better than my birth mom ever could. My siblings accepted me immediately, they never even questioned it. No one made a big deal out of my problems.”

“In the beginning they cut me a lot of slack, until I adjusted, but then I had to start doing stuff. Going to church, for instance. I was… a little terrified. Well, a lot. I locked myself in the closet the first time they dressed me up and told me we had to go pray. Mom and dad had an extensive talk with me through the closet door, explaining religion and God and Jesus, and saying it was not a rule, that if I felt uncomfortable I could go back home, but it was nothing like Prayers in the city. You know, nowadays I’m big on religion” Tyler explained and Jenna nodded, since one of the first things they bonded over was her charity work in her dad’s church “But in the beginning I was really suspicious of it.”

“I changed schools, for the same as my siblings, and… that’s when I met Josh, then a lot changed. Another funny thing. Day one, he just sat by me at lunch and asked me if I wanted to trade, half my tuna sandwich for half his grilled cheese. I nodded and as we start eating he’s like, ‘our teacher told us you can’t talk. Can you write?’ And like it happened with Kelly, I felt like responding in writing. He never asked me anything about why I didn’t talk, or what happened to me, or why was I so jumpy and anxious. One day I had to leave the school because I had a panic attack over something I don’t even remember, and as I waited in the hallway for my mother to pick me up, Josh snuck out of class, sat beside me and held my hand, telling me to breathe, that I was going to be fine. I know it seems silly, but that… changed something. The way Josh and my family seemed all ok with me. They never made a big deal out of anything. My confusion about the world outside, all my issues caused by the trauma, the fact that none of them even heard my voice. That didn’t matter to them. Even if I started to feel more at home with my new family, Josh came out of nowhere and just decided to be my friend. At some point I told him, still in writing, about having lived in a cult, that strange things would happen to me, and he just… believed me.”

“I remember one day I was having dinner with my family and I wanted potatoes, but I couldn’t reach them. Everyone at the table was deep in conversation, and I was frustrated that I couldn’t get the dish. So I just said, ‘Mom, can you get me the potatoes?’ I didn’t even think about it. Everyone went silent. She did hand me the potatoes, and I guess for a moment she tried not to make a big deal out of it, but obviously she cried and hug me and everything. But I didn’t feel weird about it. It was like… I had unlocked something. Next day I went to school and just went like ‘hey, Josh’. Same thing, everyone freaked out, even if our teacher tried to keep the order. But I never felt weird about it again. It was like, I was safe now, I felt safe, so I just went back to talking.”

“Things were… relatively normal, really normal this time, for the first time in my life. I was presented to a bunch of extracurricular activities and fell in love with piano and basketball, mostly. I became a model student in terms of grades, but also got into all sorts of shenanigans with Josh, we were the clowns of pre-school, middle school, high school. I loved my family and never for a day any of us questioned if I was less one of them for being adopted. When the adoption was formalized and my name changed, I got my grandfather’s name too and none of that was weird or unnatural. Suddenly I had normal birthdays and normal fights for time with the videogame and normal scratched knees from falling on bike rides.”

“But I was normal just until it was time for bed. Sleeping was a torture, because the moment I closed my eyes, I was back in the Trench, being chased by Blurryface. The screaming wouldn’t stop, the nightmares wouldn’t stop, and I knew by then that this meant he was still out there, looking for me somehow. I tried explaining that to my parents, but they just… they didn’t really get it, and honestly? I didn’t really want to explain it too much. In the back of my head, I still expected them to return me to the group home at some point.”

“But Josh knows, right?” Jenna said softly. Tyler nodded, serious. Jenna wanted to ask what was the difference, but again, she didn’t have to.

“One time, we were about… eight? We had a sleepover. He was in my house and it wasn’t the first time, so he already knew I would scream in my sleep at some point and he knew he had to wake me up and talk to me to calm me down. But then when I screamed, he woke me and… the same thing that just happened with you, happened then” Tyler said softly, holding Jenna’s hand again. She sighed and he noted she had almost forgotten how that whole conversation started but now that she remembered the fear was lurking back in her mind even if Jenna tried to fight it. Tyler sighed and pretended not to notice any of that. “He told me I opened my eyes and they were not mine. I spoke and it was not my voice. Josh barely registered what me… or _it,_ said. But he thinks it was something along the lines of ‘I will find you sooner or later, little boy’, and I knew what it meant. It was Blurryface. He went into my head, somehow.”

“Is that what just happened?” Jenna interjected, in a high-pitched tone, because now she had just enough information to realize that it was bad, unaware of how much worse it could get. Tyler squeezed her hand.

“Sort of. Notice how he said ‘little boy’. Funny thing about the bishops is that they never even bothered to learn the name my mother gave me so, whatever they were up to, they could not find me. I’m not sure, but I guess Blurryface getting in my head was a failed attempt to find me, facilitated by dumb luck. I was not feeling great, I had a cold and a big test and a crush on a little girl that said boys were gross, and even after all I’ve been through, I was having a rough couple of days. And maybe that day he felt stronger. Of course, this is just speculation. What matters is that Josh saw that, and I had already told him a bunch of things by that time. He  believed me, but only when he saw that he realized how bad it was. He handled it very well, I must say, for an eight year old… or maybe because he was an eight year old. I guess, as kids, we were much more inclined to believe that kind of thing. He would spend the night very often after that, and I guess he felt like he had the task of protecting me somehow, but over the years, this kind of thing happened only four or five times, overall.”

“But even with all the support, the fear of nights took its toll on me. Very soon I got a brand new diagnosis of depression with a side of anxiety. I would go by my days seeming fine, and at night I would either succumb to horrible nightmares or fight sleeping until I couldn’t handle. This lasted for years and, honestly? It became a lifetime struggle. I guess there are demons you cannot kill, just fight them daily and sometimes lose.”

Tyler lowered his head for a moment. Jenna could see he was holding back a lot – that particular type of pain seemed worse than he let on, but she didn’t want to pressure. He was opening up so much just to get her up to speed and she felt like anything else that was not related to their current problem, he could tell her another time, when whatever was happening now was over.

“Anyway, despite that, it was manageable most of the time. I would hit a low every now and then, but in general, I was living my life for the first time, you know? I had to lie a bit to the therapist just so I would not get committed to a freaking asylum for talking about some undead dude who wanted to possess me to keep up his diet of souls, but well, that wasn’t such a big deal as it used to be.”

“But… of course, the past keeps up with you. I would always think of my birth mother, but eventually I stuck everything away in this backpack. I forgot about all of her warnings about the bishops and the city and, more than anything, I forgot all about that… fucking… key.”

Tyler struggled so much with the words and the memory they brought he had to stop for a moment, biting his lip so hard it bled. Jenna squeezed his hand, and as much as she wanted to tell him he didn’t have to talk about it, she knew it would be a lie. That seemed extremely important.

“Josh and I told you and Debby about the fire extinguisher story and sure, it was funny, but that was not the first time our moms fight to keep us apart. The first time was when we were ten, and I was the supposed bad influence.”

“I was doing fairly well in all aspects, good grades, only compliments from the music teacher, got a spot in the youth basketball team, which was really more of a made up team to include kids in the sporting events” Tyler said, and his voice started going monotone again, and Jenna was noticing he did that with the most painful memories, like he was trying to distance himself from them “But I had a piano recital and a game in the same week. I wasn’t showing it, but my head was a mess. What if I messed up my part of the song? What if I messed up my shots in the game? Insecurity obviously is natural, but for me it was almost paralyzing. I didn’t share this even with Josh at the time, but whenever I felt anxious or sad about anything else, I could hear Blurryface inside my head. ‘You will mess up’, ‘you’re a phony’, ‘you’re not good enough at anything’. I fought it a lot, though. I thought if I ignored it, it would eventually go away.”

“Josh and I had a tree house back then. It was in his yard, because he had a huge tree, but it was mine and Josh’s equally, I could come and go whenever I wanted and both our dads helped us build it. We spent a lot of time there those days and, particularly for a couple days I didn’t want to leave, because as much as I loved my family, I wasn’t eager to get home and have them asking me about my activities and if I was doing well in rehearsals and practices and I didn’t want to listen. Then one day, right before the piano thing, I was specially anxious and Josh tried talking to me about it. He ended up hitting a nerve, asking me if it wasn’t time to go home and be honest with my parents about how I was feeling, and I lashed out, yelling at him for no good reason. He left, sad, and I stayed there for a long time, way past curfew. Both my brothers came to call me and I yelled at them too. I figured eventually my dad would come and make me go down. But I don’t remember anything after that.”

“I was told later that I went home and asked to be excused from dinner. If I force my brain, I have a faint memory of doing so, or maybe I made up the memory with what I was told. But no matter how hard I tried, all I remember after laying in bed, is the next day, at the crack of dawn, standing in front of the tree house in Josh’s yard. The tree house was on fire and before I could do anything else, I realized I smelled of gas.”

Tyler gave Jenna a second to make the connection. He intentionally tried to check for her thoughts, but she was mostly shocked. There was a little fear, still, since she was realizing how dangerous Tyler’s actions could be and how little control he had over them. But more than that, she felt sad for him, and Tyler didn’t really want to know that.

“Josh was the first to run out to me and he tried to drag me away, because he knew how bad my situation looked, but I was too shocked to run. And then I felt too guilty to run as well. I was just stayed there and stared from him to the tree house, sobbing, whispering ‘what did I do, what did I do’ on repeat. Then his mom came out and all hell broke loose.”

“She kept asking me why I did that, and Josh’s dad and siblings came out and started freaking out, Josh kept trying to defend me even with my hands soaked in gasoline and a trail of dropped matches that led to me. My parents and siblings then showed up, worried for not finding me at home and assuming I was there, and everyone was arguing and calling emergency at the same time… I was still in shock, mumbling I was sorry. Josh grabbed my hand and made me run back home. He had some childish illusion of getting rid of the evidence of what I did. But what got to me was that he said it, ‘what you did’. I asked him if he knew what happened and told him I had no idea. He just froze while forcing me into a shower with my clothes on. He explained he woke up earlier because he needed to go to the bathroom and when he looked outside, I was standing outside, staring at the tree. He said he called me and I didn’t react, but he assumed I couldn’t hear it, since he was practically whispering as not to wake up his whole family. But then he noticed my face. I was smiling, and my eyes were red again. He said he watched the whole thing, too terrified to stop me, and he saw as I went up with a gallon of gas, threw it around the tree house, poured a trail of fuel on the ladder, got out and lit a match. He said he got out of the house as soon as I did that, but of course, by the time he reached me I was… me again, and I explained that to him. He stopped trying to make me wash away the traces of gas on my hands and clothes and said we had to talk to my parents.”

“His parents knew I had issues, my parents had to explain everything before I ever had a sleepover in his house, in case I started screaming at night. But his mom, this time, said she had no idea how dangerous I was. She said she was sorry, but she didn’t want Josh around me at least until I got treated properly and suggested that I got committed. That prompted my mom to lose her shit. So Josh and I went to my room to wait until they decided something.”

“We were discussing ways to sneak out of the house to hang out, and I was telling Josh that maybe I was really dangerous and he should stay away when my brother Zach came in, crying. I just knew, suddenly, what he was going to say. I mean, sometimes…”

“I know” Jenna said quickly when she realized what he was about to say. He frowned. “I noticed how sometimes you… know things. During this very conversation you answered about four questions I just thought of asking.”

“Yeah…” Tyler gave a shy smile “Sorry. I don’t always realize. Anyway” he proceeded when she shook her head as to say she didn’t care. “I knew what he was going to say, but it wasn’t possible. Then he said it was his fault. That he made me do that.”

Tyler pressed his lips together, thinking. This part was tricky, because as much as he didn’t want Jenna to freak out, he needed her to understand the gravity of the situation.

“Zach said he was upset with me those past few days. He said he felt like I had too much attention, because of the recital and the game, and sometimes he would talk to mom and dad and they didn’t pay attention, or he tried to talk to me and I ignored him and spent all my time with Josh. So one day, he went into my room looking for me and saw the backpack with my mom’s things. He went snooping around when he saw the key. And he took it, just to be petty, just to mess with me in some dumb child scheme.”

“The key… talked to him. He said it put thoughts in his head. It made all the bad feelings become much, much bigger, to the point where he was truly hating me. Then when I yelled at him the night before, it made things worse and he went home and talked back to the key. The thing told him what to do. It told him that if he really wanted to, he could mess with me for real. And all he could think about was how jealous he was of me and Josh in our tree house. Next thing he knows, I set the thing on fire.”

“The key… controls people?” Jenna said, confused.

“No” Tyler shook his head, serious “It controls me. Or more specifically, it controls Blurryface. In this case, the part of me that is Blurryface.”

This time Jenna jerked back and released Tyler’s hands. She didn’t even seem apologetic, the shock was bigger than that. She raised her eyebrows.

“I’m sorry, the what now?”

Tyler ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. He was not upset with Jenna, but that was a pain either way.

“Here’s the thing. Had I never encountered Blurryface, I would still be linked to him somehow. I guess you could say our fates are linked if you want to be cheesy but, in practical terms? Blurryface is simultaneously someone else, just as much as he is a part of me. Like I said, a long time ago, that body was occupied by someone else. Someone who was a person like me, who had their will and personality crushed away by this…. Ethereal thing. But he cannot exist in our reality without a body exactly because on how he feeds off of that. He needs a real person to lean on and then suck away their life. He is out there, being creepy and shit, but in a way… he is also here. He is my insecurity, my fear, my anger. Whenever I feel any of those negative emotions he is there. Like a face looking in a window, just waiting for a chance to hop inside. Maybe if I never met him, I would always have a constant feeling of dread, a type of darkness that I wouldn’t know where it came from. But since I met him, I can put a name, a face and a damned red robe on those feelings.”

Jenna had her arms around her own body, involuntarily avoiding contact with Tyler. He sighed. He knew that telling her how awful Blurryface was and then telling he was part of him would make her afraid, but there was no way around it. He decided to just finish his story and hope she would adjust to it.

“I didn’t realize all of that at once, but I knew the problem was the key. I knew Blurryface and I were connected, and I knew that, somehow, the key had to do with it. So I made Zach return it and said I would forgive him if he didn’t tell anyone about that. To be honest, I was relieved, because it meant I was not completely crazy, my episode had an origin. So I lied. I hid the key better, apart from everything else, and went downstairs with the best poker face I could. I told the adults my problem was that I was stressed with school and extracurricular activities and, oh, I had stopped my medication. Those are magic words” Tyler gave a bitter laugh “When you need medication for any mental illness, people who don’t need them assume not taking them will make you do all sorts of things. They presumed it was a reasonable explanation. I ended up having to quit one of the activities and I chose to quit the piano.  Sports don’t require feeling too much” Tyler shrugged when Jenna frowned to his choice “Not to me at least. It was strategy and sweating and joking around. Music involved too much feeling and I was convinced I should avoid those.”

“I tried to study the key for a while, but it wasn’t easy. There wasn’t much information online, or in libraries. For all I knew, it could be something unknown to everyone else in the world. I knew how it affected me. So I pulled it out of its hiding place one day and tried communicating with it. I know how it sounds, but Zach said ‘it talked’, so I gave it a shot.”

“At first I didn’t hear anything. Well, really, I didn’t hear anything at all. But I felt… different. I hated it, but I felt something else. Like static. So I did something I didn’t even believe. I looked for him.”

“I closed my eyes and we were in the dark, but I knew he was out there. Soon I saw him, older, weaker, but still sitting on some sort of throne. He seemed surprised to see me, then he laughed. He thought I ended up there by accident. Then I remembered, neither of us really had to talk to communicate. I just thought about the key in my hand and he went pale. He was angry and I looked in his head as quickly as I could, what he thought of the key. And in ten seconds I was, let’s say, hanging up on him.”

“I didn’t know… what the key was for. What I did know, because it was the first thing he thought about, is that it controls us. I figured that was the reason my mother gave it to me: she stole it from them to make sure they couldn’t control me and find me. But the thing is, the key was affecting me even if just stored it away. It was like keeping an open line to Blurryface at all times, even if he couldn’t really reach me. And if, by any chance, someone really wanted to hurt me, all they had to do was to hold the damn thing, because it seemed to have a mind of its own.”

“I was… pretty pissed at my birth mom after that. I understood why she did it, but I was angry. Maybe she could have, I don’t know, warned me. I know better now, she was busy dying and everything. Maybe she didn’t even know the side effects of owning the key.”

“But then, when I was 12, I went into my famous angsty phase. Over the years I kept records of things that happened in the city, I had a copy of my mother’s letter, as I told you. But when I was becoming a teenager, I was upset with my past for making me so different from everyone else, and I threw everything I had away and left only this backpack. But I had no idea what to do with the key, because I knew I couldn’t just toss it away.”

“One day in my history class I noticed a random picture on a random slide on a bad power point presentation my teacher made for our class. I told him I had an old key my mother gave me and it looked like the one he showed us, and obviously he didn’t believe me. So I took it to school and showed him the next free period I had. Needless to say, the dude almost had a heart attack.”

“My teacher said that key was basically a legend among archeologists. It was found during an excavation way back when, in an abandoned temple, where I skeleton was holding it. The weird part is, the skeleton they found had clothes that didn’t match the Mayans, and was holding a letter, in Spanish, rambling about the dangers of the key. They think it was one of the colonizers. It was a big hit with the community in that time.”

“Supposedly, it was like a… key for the underworld. From what they gathered, it was the item to control a determined entity that could lead someone to what they presumed would be the gates of hell. So they called it the Devil’s Key.”

“But a few years later, the key vanished. One day it was in possession of some University being studied and the next it was gone. What made the thing get wilder was that there was a trail of deaths and disappearances related to it. People who claimed the key talked to them, people who claimed the key made them do things. But there was no evidence of where it could have gone. And since this was a long time ago, there weren’t many resources to find it. So it was considered lost.”

“My teacher said, in his shock, ‘how did you get this? This belongs in a museum’ and then it clicked for me. Of course that was the best option. I mean, think about it. It’s an antique, no one will touch it without gloves. And museums have a lot of security, so no one would take it again. I realize now I should have thought of robberies, but I was 12. Plus, I counted on the key’s… fame to make people not want anything with it.”

“I told my teacher that I wanted to donate it to a museum right away, but he didn’t let me. He said it wasn’t fair to me, to have such a rare thing and donate it away for nothing. I said I really didn’t care, but he didn’t listen. Next thing I know, he is talking to my parents about it. Trying to convince them to talk to the Historic Society to hold an auction. My parents didn’t even know about the key and they resisted to the idea, because in order for that to happen, I would have to tell a bunch of people where I got it and bring up the whole Ohio Horror. But eventually they caved in, because they wanted me to have that money for the future, college fund and everything. And I agreed in the end. As long as I could get rid of the thing.”

“You got the money for the key? But… they said in the news that thing is worth millions of dollars” Jenna said confused.

Tyler made a face. He didn’t think about that part.

“Yeah. Forgot to mention.” He sighed “They held an auction and it ended up going to the Museum of Natural History. And I got a big load of money. 80 million to be precise.” He heard Jenna gasp, but didn’t meet her eye. “My teacher called a few years later, saying I was robbed, because the key was now evaluated in a 100 million.”

Jenna stayed silent and Tyler  looked at her, but her mouth was open. She took a few moments before saying anything.

“But… you live in a one bedroom apartment. In a not so nice part of L.A. You play in small bars and get paid peanuts. You work with you brother fixing houses two weeks a month. Why? You could… buy your own music label or something!”

Tyler laughed.

“Yeah, I could. But I never wanted that money, because of where it came from. I wanted to give it all to charity, my parents didn’t let me. I wanted them to keep it, but they didn’t want it. I said I would give it all away when I got older, but they… well, they did a lot of emotional blackmailing. They wanted me to have a safety net, so we compromised. Over the years I donated a lot, like a _lot_ of that money away, because it felt wrong to keep it with so much people in need. My brothers and sister, each one got a piece of it when they turned 18, and my parents have a share of it , and even then there was a lot left. I just don’t really feel… comfortable using it and the only reason I kept my share was because my parents insisted. I used it to open a business that my brother runs nowadays and that was it.”

“The house flipping thing?” Jenna frowned, thinking about when Tyler left town a few weeks prior to work on a project with Zach. “You said it was your brother’s!”

Tyler fell his cheeks getting hot.

“I’m sorry I lied. I was just scared you would ask questions. If you asked me how I started the business I would have to tell you I have ten million sitting in the bank and then I would have to explain how I got the money.”

“Ten… oh my God” Jenna shook her head, dumbfounded. She just raised a hand “That’s ok. Please continue.”

“Anyway, that was… the end of it… sort of. Giving the key away, my mental state improved a lot. I mean, I still dealt with stuff, because of the trauma, and everything I went through, and depression and all. But the night terrors were practically gone. The nightmares were few and far between, and they still messed with me, giving me a terrible headache, but I knew they were just my head being sick and not Blurryface.”

“But over the years… there were incidents. Someone tried to steal the key. One day I when I was in high school I woke up and my head was so… loud, filled with words that were not mine. Josh came over to distract me and we were playing video games when, apparently, I dropped my joystick and went upstairs. Josh said he followed me and found me perched on my bedroom window. According to him I said ‘you’re not worthy’ and tried to jump. He grabbed me and I snapped out of it, but we got scared because we didn’t know about the robbery. Next day we found that a guy tried to take it from the museum and was found dead a few hours later. He jumped from his roof and was still holding the key in his hand. Something similar happened when I was in college. But this time I was with a girl I liked” Tyler gave a half smile, timid, knowing Jenna wouldn’t want to hear about another girl. “This time we knew about the robbery and I kept waiting for something to happen for about two days. When it didn’t happen right away, I thought I was in the clear. So on day two I was at this girl’s house and… I’m not sure what I said or did, because she clearly never talked to me again but apparently I fell asleep on her couch and when I woke up I was laughing maniacally on her window with a pair of scissors in my hand. Next day, the thief was found, again holding the key, and guess what he had in his other hand.”

“Please don’t tell me it was a pair of scissors.”

“Yup. He had gouged his eyes out with them. He is still alive, actually, in a mental hospital and refuses to tell anyone what happened that day.”

“After two robberies, the key was moved. They decided to send it to a museum in Melbourne, Australia. And it seems that, the farther the key is, the better I am. No one tried to steal it again, first because, after two robberies, the security around it was much better thought, but second, the key got it’s bad reputation back. No one really wants to try their luck, or it seemed like that until now.”

“But me… I was doing much better once it left the country. I gave up on college and went back to doing music, because I really enjoyed it and getting in touch with my feelings didn’t seemed that dangerous anymore. I opened a business and ran it for a while, but then I felt like moving to L.A., just for some time. And… you know the rest. I mean, I’m just living my life, you know? Everything is fine, or was fine.”

“But for about a year now, the dreams were getting bad again. I kept dreaming I was in the Trench, running from Blurryface. They were getting worse and worse each time. Then the other night, it was so bad I was afraid of not walking up, but this time, it wasn’t Blurryface after me. Someone else was in his place. And tonight, too. When I was being chased, there was some guy in a suit in the distance. This is… bad.”

“What I think is happening is this: the key affects people differently, but a constant thing is that it can control me, and Blurryface. But those people before, who tried to steal it, they couldn’t handle it. It’s like… the key can think for itself. It can choose who is worth of owning it. I had it, and I hated, but it never hurt me, maybe because it felt Blurryface inside of me, and he is the one who can… open the gates of hell, or whatever it is. It didn’t hurt Zach, maybe because it felt he was close to me, so it figured he was a good candidate to manipulate me. Those other guys were petty thieves, and I suppose they just wanted the money for it and had no idea what they were getting into. But this guy, this time? Whoever he is, he knows what he is doing. He took the key with a specific purpose and that is to control me. He wants to find me, and to bring me to Blurryface. He wants to use me to unleash whatever it is the key is meant to unleash. This is why he would ask my name and to see where I live. And I… I don’t know what to do. I can… sense his intentions, more or less how I sense everyone’s, but that’s it. I can’t help it. He asks me a question and I have to answer, he tells me to do something and I have to do it. I cannot fight it. I cannot stop him.”

Tyler sighed and lowered his head, defeated. Now that he finished the story, he could allow himself to feel the weight of the situation. And suddenly, all he could feel was scared. He forced a small smile and turned to Jenna, not really meeting her eye.

“That’s it. Now you’ve got it, everything I didn’t tell you about me. And I get you won’t want to stay anymore. Hell, I would get out of that if I could. But you still can.”

Jenna blinked and shook her head as if she was waking up. She suddenly realized what Tyler was saying.

“What? No! Tyler” she scooted closer to him, grabbing his hand again, serious. “I’m not going anywhere. I… am a little scared, yeah. But not of you, never of you. I’m scared _for_ you, honey. I love you. And I’m not some college bimbo who is gonna freak out and run away, ok?” she scoffed, and Tyler smiled. He knew it was going to be a thing. But Jenna stayed serious. “I’m here for you. So we’re in this together, ok?”

Tyler wanted to tell her no, beg for her to leave while she could, before she got hurt. But he knew it was no use, because she was too stubborn for her own good. And she was making doey eyes again, which was something he couldn’t fight against, but more than anything, Tyler knew she did love him, and he loved her too. And he was not altruistic enough to give up on her.

“Ok” he said simply, nodding.

Jenna pulled him into a kiss and Tyler just held her, relieved. It was like she had just taken the whole world from his shoulders.

“So” she said when they finally broke apart. The sun was coming from behind the curtains, through the crack Tyler opened under someone else’s orders. He admired how her eyes seemed to shine under that light. She smiled sheepishly “Is that why you never invited me to move over even though half of my stuff is already here?”

“Oh. That.” He laughed. It seemed so silly now. Such a normal conversation to have. “Partially. I mean, sure. I didn’t want to move forward without taking this out of the way, the whole thing about paranormal entities and a religious cult and a shitload of money in the bank. But also…”

Tyler leaned and pulled something from under the bed. He kept his hand behind him for a second while he talked, leaving Jenna confused.

“But also, I didn’t want to ask you to move in.” He showed the little blue box with a bow and Jenna stopped breathing. “I had a whole plan, involving dinner and a serenade but honestly, after this whole conversation, I think I shouldn’t leave you hanging anymore. It seems kinda stupid now. And, you know, with some psycho after me now, I think I won’t find the perfect timing any day soon, so…”

“Since when…?” Jenna whispered. Tyler made a face.

“Uh… remember last time I had to travel with my brother to see a house that needed fixing in New York?”

“That was weeks ago!” Jenna shrieked. Tyler laughed, but tried to contain it when he saw she was still in shock. “I’m sorry. I keep trying to find the right moment and it never was, with all the secrets. But I promise you, that won’t happen again.”

“No more secrets, ok?” Jenna said softly, and Tyler nodded. Then she sighed. “Can I see my ring now?”

Tyler laughed and opened the box slowly.

“I thought of getting the biggest one, but I didn’t want to touch on the dirty money. So I had to buy it with the money I have from actual work, you know. Plus, I figured, you are not the kind of person who would walk around with something so flashy.”

He showed her a delicate ring with a simple thin band and a small heart-shaped diamond on top of it. Jenna’s eyes filled with tears, but this time she had a smile so big her cheeks hurt.

“I love it. It’s absolutely perfect.”

Tyler fit the ring in Jenna’s hand and she threw her arms around him with an exclamation of joy. Tyler held her tight, content. He was still terrified, but with Jenna in his arms he felt like he could handle anything.


	6. Finders keepers, losers weepers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh decides to take matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, Brendon sees his efforts starting to pay off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A miracle happened when I saw that one person spent time to comment on last chapter so I ended up writing another very much faster. It's way shorter, I promise. Things are going to happen for now on, finally

Josh woke up late, but he was feeling good about it. He and Debby spent the night together, mostly watching TV and eating pizza. He didn’t have to work and she only had a casting call later in the day, so they could just sleep in and do nothing all morning. It was already eleven when he felt Debby tapping him in the arm insistently.

“Please pick up your phone” she groaned, burying her face in her pillows.

Josh yawned and reached for his phone. Only then he realized it was making noise, but after a second he noticed it wasn’t really ringing, it was pinging message notifications, one after another. He sat in bed, sighing and opened the messages. The first few were sent several minutes apart, but the newest were just coming one after the other.

**Tyler**

_Hey. Are you up?_

_I need you to call me_

_Josh?_

_Are you still mad about the lying?_

_I need to talk to you about it_

_Are you busy?_

_Josh, I’m sorry I lied but I need you to call me_

_Josh_

_Josh_

_Josh_

_Josh_

_Josh_

_Josh_

_Josh_

_Josh_

 

Josh rolled his eyes and called Tyler, ignoring the incessant pinging of messages. Tyler picked up before it even rung.

“Finally!” Tyler said, annoyed “Are you that mad at me? Or were you in Debby to busy — “

“I was sleeping, Jesus!” Josh laughed. He wasn’t happy with Tyler, but he was never able to stay mad at him for much longer. He went out to the balcony to talk as not to wake up Debby again. “I had a free morning and we stayed up last night catching up on TV shows. I’m not your biggest fan right now” he added, serious “but no, I’m not mad. What’s up?”

Tyler sighed on the other end of the line.

“I’m sorry, you were right. I shouldn’t have lied. You can tell Debby, if you want. I’m ok with it now.”

Josh frowned for a moment, then he realized.

“You told Jenna, didn’t you?”

“Yeah” Tyler said simply, not sounding happy about it.

“What prompted this? Wait” Josh gasped, feeling scared for his friend. He suddenly remembered the other two times the key had been stolen from museums. He thought about it the day before, but nothing had happened so far, and he imagined maybe the key was just far away enough. “What happened this time? Did Jenna see it?”

“She saw it, alright” Tyler laughed humorlessly “That’s why I told her.”

Tyler explained what happened earlier that morning and shared his theory with Josh. The more he talked, clearer things were. And Josh was genuinely afraid for Tyler, more than he ever felt in years, ever since he saw Tyler setting fire to their tree house.

“Tyler, we need to get help” Josh said quietly.

“No one can help with this, Josh” Tyler said, angrily. “We tried this before. You were there; you saw all the kinds of things I tried over the years. Priests, pastors, rabbis, séances, paranormal researchers. Thank God I never told any of them about the bishops part because it was all a waste of time. I just… I don’t know what to do, Josh” Tyler said finally, sounding defeated. “I don’t think there is anything I can do.”

Tyler sounded so down that Josh felt a sting in his heart. He bit his lip and tried again.

“You know there’s something we didn’t try” he said simply. Tyler laughed.

“Right. Your paranormal investigators. Same bullshit, different group. I don’t even know why you think this is any different than the other last three”

“I know it sounds stupid, Ty, but if you listen…”

“Anyway, changing the subject” Tyler said loudly, cutting Josh off as if he didn’t say anything. “I proposed to Jenna.”

“What?” Josh gasped, taking the bait against his will.

“Yeah, I know. I feel incredibly selfish for doing this now, when I know I’m screwed, but I didn’t even really propose, I just showed her the ring and she cried and wanted to put it on right away. Can you come here later? I have a gig and I could use some help, then I tell you all about it.”

Josh went back inside after hanging up, feeling useless. He knew there was no point trying to bring up the subject with Tyler again later, and he agreed on playing with Tyler for his gig on a party on some campus, so he knew it was best if both of them could concentrate. Still, he felt like he would not be able to concentrate on anything with that sinking feeling that he was just watching his best friend get screwed.

“Was that Tyler?” Debby said groggily, sitting on the bed and stretching her arms. Josh nodded, setting his phone on the night stand and started looking for his clothes and getting dressed while she was trying to feel more awake. “Jesus, what time is it?”

“It’s already past eleven. I know” he shook his head when she covered her mouth “We need to stop watching TV until dawn. But I knew you didn’t have to wake up early so I saw no reason to wake you up.”

“I had to go to the gym” she said, pulling her covers and mustering the courage to get up. She gestured to her body “How do you think I got all of this going on? It takes work.”

Josh laughed and kissed her quickly before sitting down to put on his shoes “You’ll still be hot if you skip leg day every now and then, I promise. I’ll run to the café and get us something to eat, ok?”

“Ok. Hey” Debby said quickly when Josh got up, and she had an anxious look on her face, like she was talking before she lost the courage “Do you… do you think Tyler liked me? I mean, he is your best friend, and I know you family loved me, but… I don’t know, I’m worried.”

Josh laughed and sat down by her side again.

“You worried I’ll dump you if he doesn’t like you?” when she shrugged, Josh messed you her hair and laughed again “That just wouldn’t be possible, you know you’re too adorable for that. But yes, he liked you.”

“How do you know?” Debby said timidly, still feeling insecure.

“He cursed in front of you” Josh said with a humorous tone. When Debby seemed confused, he smiled “Tyler is a joker, but he is kind of shy and sometimes he is annoyingly polite. He only curses in front of people he feels comfortable with, so I’d say you’re in the clear. You know” Josh added carefully, when she tilted her head, analyzing what he said “Tyler can come off as… full of himself sometimes. But he’s been through a lot. He is the most caring and loyal guy I know. You know how I told you I dealt with a lot of anxiety when I was younger? Tyler was the one who stood for me all the time. And when it got too bad and I refused to acknowledge it, Tyler was the one who risked me getting mad at him and talked to my parents to convince me to get help. And I did get mad at him, didn’t talk to him for a week, but he still did what he knew it was best for me. He might not show it right away, but if he likes you, he likes you. He just takes some time to… adjust.”

Debby nodded, thinking about it. It sounded about right.

“But… something seemed off yesterday. You seemed mad at him all of a sudden.”

Josh sighed, scratching his head and avoiding her eyes. He knew Tyler said he could tell Debby, but it wasn’t easy. For what Tyler said, telling the whole thing to Jenna was necessary at that point. He wasn’t in a hurry with Debby.

“He was lying. To you and Jenna.” Josh said finally. “He was talking about how little importance his life before adoption had and how the museum thing was nothing, but… all of that matters. I’ll tell you everything, just not right now” Josh assured her, holding her hand “It’s… a long and complicated story, but I’ll tell you, little by little. I don’t even know if you’ll believe me, but…”

“Hey” Debby said quickly squeezing his hand, reassuring “I will. Whatever it is, ok? But ok, we talk about it later. What I wanna know is why you’re upset right now. C’mon” she scoffed when he raised his eyebrows. “I’m an actress, I’m great at reading expressions. Also, you’re terrible at hiding them.”

Josh laughed again and lowered his head, thinking.

“It’s just… Tyler is going through something. It has to do with the thing with the museum and all this… stuff that I have to tell you about. And it’s really bad, but there’s nothing we can do, there’s… nothing he can do. And I do have an idea, and I feel like it could work, but he shut me down already so I’m… feeling kind of useless.”

Debby tilted her head, thoughtful.

“Can I give you my opinion? You don’ have to take it if you don’t want to.” When Josh nodded, she shrugged. “So what if he shut you down? You said you’ve been in a situation before, where you refused help but he went behind your back anyway because he knew what was the right thing to do. Isn’t it the same thing? If he needs help, I know you will do whatever it takes to help him. It might sound counterintuitive but… maybe it’s the best way.”

“What if I’m wrong?” Josh asked sadly. “What if this doesn’t help at all?”

“Is it something that will make it worse?”

Josh thought about it for a second.

“I don’t think so.” He responded. Debby gave a half smile.

“Then you should take a leap of faith.”

 

Josh went to the café and got them coffee and pastries, but Debby was in the shower when he came back. That gave him time to think.

He took his phone and just stared at for the longest time. A few months before, when Tyler started having nightmares again, Josh started to look for alternatives, mostly just to feel like he was doing something. Then one day, on a random internet search, he found a group of paranormal researchers in Chicago, that claimed to be the real deal. All of them claimed that, of course, and as Tyler had pointed out, they had tried that kind of thing already. But for some reason, Josh kept reading their website, and then he started chatting with one of the guys, Patrick. It seemed like the usual thing, until Patrick mentioned having an encounter with a religious cult with supernatural powers. That picked up Josh’s attention and, the more they talked about it, the more the guy seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. Josh didn’t want to tell him anything about Tyler’s situation until Tyler agreed to meet with the guy, and since Tyler never allowed him to even bring up the subject for more than a minute, Josh just ghosted him. But now he was considering what Debby said. He really didn’t want to risk his friendship. But hadn’t Tyler done the same for him?

Josh tapped the dial button and waited. It rang for quite some time and he was about to give up when someone answer, out of breath “hello?”

“Hum, hello. Is this Patrick?”

“It’s… just a second” Josh listened, confused, as the man on the line spoke to someone, away from the speaker “Dude, seriously, go ask your mom… I know she won’t, but you know why you were grounded, just tell her I told you to take the iPad ok? Go! Sorry” the man said, back on the phone “My son was running with my phone, who is this?”

“Ahm. It’s Joshua. Joshua Dun?” Josh said, confused. The man took a moment to respond.

“Mr. Dun! Long time no see! Or no talk, in this case. So much I deleted your number. I thought you died, and yet, you were just ignoring me.”

“Sorry…” Josh said, feeling a little ashamed “I… I didn’t know how to tell you my friend was not interested in getting in touch.”

“Well, you could have phrased it… just like you did now. So what made you call today? Did your friend change his mind?”

“Not really” Josh said fast, feeling like if he didn’t do it like that he would give up “I would like you guys to come here anyway.”

“I’m sorry?” Patrick said after a second.

“Look, my friend won’t talk willingly. But he does need help, so I was thinking, you come with your friends here to L.A., I explain the situation and maybe you can help me convince…”

“Wow, wow, back up” Patrick interrupted him “You guys in L.A.? I thought you said Columbus!”

“Oh, yeah, we’re _from_ Columbus, but we live in L.A. now, why? What’s the difference?”

“Did you ever attend a geography class? The difference is a two hour drive to a…. thirty hour drive!”

“I know, but…”

“Mr. Dun, listen…”

“It’s Josh.”

“Josh. Listen. Even if I agreed to it, which I didn’t, I’m pretty sure I can’t get my friends on board. This is not exactly our paying job. I don’t think I can find the time to drive to the other side of the country…”

“I can get you a plane ticket” Josh said, shaking his head. He had a lot saved from his college fund since he ended up never attending college. “I mean, economy class, but…”

“Even so” Patrick cut him off again “I don’t think I can just miss work, you know, actual work for some… paranormal occurrence I don’t even know what is…”

Josh sighed, annoyed. He was trying to avoid this. _Tyler will understand_ _someday,_ he told to himself.

“You wanna come for this” He started, cutting off Patrick. He swallowed hard before speaking. “It has to do with the Ohio Horror. And the Devil’s key stolen in Australia.”

Patrick went silent so completely and for such a long time Josh though the line was dead.

“The Ohio… is your friend…” Patrick’s voice was so low Josh could barely hear him.

“Come over here and I’ll tell you” Josh promised, feeling a weight in his stomach. There was no turning back now.

Patrick took another moment. Then he sighed.

“I’ll look up flights right now. But I’ll need two tickets.”

 

At that time, Brendon was pacing around in a dimly lit corridor underground. He was thinking to himself how ridiculous that place was. He could get why they were underground considering the secrecy of their society, but the lack of light, the stone walls and the light fixtures on the wall resembling torches were a bit on the nose. That was one of the things he was going to change as soon as he got in charge.

He was not exactly nervous, though. He was anxious because they were making him wait, but he knew there was nothing in his way to the maximum power now except the formalities. The key was that powerful, that he knew now that he was already in power. He already had the upper hand.

Brendon heard over the years how people tried so hard to get to the key. Everyone else failed. They couldn’t handle the power, the intensity, the voice inside their heads telling them all this new information. Eventually the others would kill themselves or go insane. Only two people managed to get the key out of a museum, and they weren’t even in the society. But there were others, that only the people from the inside knew about, who, only by planning a robbery started to lose their minds. Some even got as far as entering the museum and taking it from its protective glass case, but as soon as they touched it with their bare hands, the overload of information was too much for them. So they returned it, without ever being found, and ran back to the society, scarred for life.

But not Brendon. He knew what to expect. He knew all of the stories. He planned and prepared for the robbery, sure, but more than anything, he prepared his mindset. He trained himself to be respectful and reverent to the forces beyond him. He kept in mind his final goal, the importance of all of that. And when he finally held the key in his hand, he was not overwhelmed by it, he was mesmerized. That was why the key accepted his ownership when everyone else failed.

A pale blond girl dressed in white came out of the room to his left, her face completely empty. Brendon didn’t pay attention, that was the expression of all the people who served the society. She didn’t meet his eye when she spoke.

“They’re ready for you, sir.” She said simply and stood by the door.

Brendon took a deep breath and opened the door, excited.

The eight men in black robes at the table raised his eyes to him for a moment while he entered the room and closed the door behind him.  Then they all stared back at each other. Brendon just smiled to himself. This was how he was treated anyway. It used to make him feel powerless, but not anymore. Nothing could make him feel powerless ever again.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen” he said softly, casually putting his hands in his pocket. The men did not react. Then Scott, by the middle of the table, spoke.

“Mr. Urie has called this meeting” he said, with a condescending tone in his voice. “He tells me he has news for us. He also clearly ignored the dress code of white for lower ranks and decided he had the authority for a black suit. But we will let it slide for now. You can share your news now, Mr. Urie.”

Brendon raised his eyebrows. Scott still did not believe him. He was making things very easy.

“Ok then. Gentlemen, can I ask you to look at me while I speak?”

The men at the table looked at him reluctantly, most of them with a look of being insulted. Brendon took his hands off his pockets.

“I think actions speak louder than words” he said, opening a few buttons of his white shirt “Wouldn’t you agree?”

He exposed the key hanging from his neck and watched as the men in the room stared at him with disbelief. Some of them gasped audibly.

“Well this… this proves nothing” Scott scoffed, trying to laugh despite his tense expression “It could be a fake. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tries that.”

“C’mon Scotty” Brendon tilted his head, admired with the man’s persistence “You don’t really believe that.”

“Yes, Scott” another man that Brendon though was called Stephen talked. He was not even trying to conceal the fear in his eyes “Can’t you… feel it?”

“It is… true.”

They all stared into the darkness in the back of the room, where the voice came from, all with fear in their eyes. Brendon, on the other hand, put his hands in the table and smiled lightly.

“Hello, Nico. Care to join us?”

The men in black robes stared to Brendon, struggling to understand he was speaking to the man in the shadows like that. If that was not the biggest proof, then he had just lost his mind. No one could talk to _him_ like that.

“The lights, please, honey” Brendon said softly.

A dim light was lit in the back of the room. Brendon stared at the old man there, dressed in a red robe, sitting slouched on a chair resembling a throne. A black teenage girl dressed in white stood by him, expressionless. She had just lit a small table lamp, and was now adjusting all the tubes and wires connected to the old man, keeping him alive.

“Show it… to me” the old man said, extending a blackened hand.

Brendon went around the table and approached the man, carelessly. The men in black were still in shock that he used the old man’s name, but approaching him was something absurd. Only the helpers in charge of his health where allowed to do so.

Brendon stood by Nico and the man slowly took the key in his hand. Even with the veil over his face, Brendon could see he was in pain. He was not supposed to touch it, of course. He still needed the confirmation, though, to believe his eyes that after all those years, he was finally going to get the boy.

He was finally getting a new body.

Nico pulled his hand away like it had been burned, but he was clearly smiling, his yellowed teeth visible even in the bad lighting.

“There is no discussion” he said, with a laughing tone “He outsmarted you all. He owns it now.”

“That’s right, buddy” Brendon said, then he softened his tone. “That means I own you, isn’t that right?”

He was not antagonizing the man. It was just a fact. So much so, that Nico was not even really reacting to his words. It was like that. Whoever owns the key, owns him, and that was how it worked, how it had always worked, since the dawn of time, since he first arrived into this world, many years and many vessels ago.

Maybe not in the city, but for someone who had eternity, the city was just a nice little vacation.

“That is right” he sighed, looking at all the men in the room. “I am you leader, and the owner of the key is mine. All those years ago, when that… stupid little girl took it from me, she gave it to the boy. A little child who could not even understand his own purpose. He had everything then. He had the whole world in his hands, more than any of you” he looked at Brendon to include him on the term “could ever have. But now things have changed. There is no questioning, there is no more hoops for you to jump through.” The man laughed again, staring back at the men at the table “He skip the whole race and went straight to the finish line.”

Brendon smirked and stared at the men, peeking at their minds. Seven of them were jealous, defeated, but accepting. Scott, however, was fuming. _This is_ _a freaking draw four if I_ _ever seen one,_ the man thought.

“Oh, Scotty, you still play Uno cards? That’s cute” he said out loud, staring at the man. Scott went red, not just from embarrassment. He was finally getting scared.

“Now, my friends” Brendon said, his tone getting darker as he approached the head of the table and leaned again “Here’s what’s going to happen. I will get the boy, or, actually, the man. We will give Nico here a new ride. And then, I will open the gates. Then we can all get what we want. Of course, for now” he smiled, standing straight once again “I’m the one getting what I want around here. And what I want is” he turned and pointed at Scott, who seemed to shrink in his seat “Your label.”

Scott scoffed again, almost as if he didn’t believe it.

“That’s just…”

“I found our guy” Brendon said as if Scott hadn’t spoken, looking at the others “I saw his room. I saw an ukulele, a keyboard, a bass. Obviously he’s a musician, and not a famous one considering his living conditions. Now, if I was that guy…”

“You used to be” Scott grumbled.

“Sure” Brendon forced a smile “Used to be. Yeah. I used to be like that. Now, in that case a label interested in my music would be like a siren song for me. Which is exactly what we have here. I mean, Stephen’s political connections or Nathan’s finger on Hollywood are not gonna do any good, with him.”

“Yes, and I can make that happen” Scott said harshly “I can find the dude and bring him in. I mean, I could even get you that music career, how about that?”

Brendon lowered his head and let out a humorless laugh, then banged on the table with his closed fist. Scott was getting on his nerves, but he wasn’t going to end the guy like he deserved. Not yet.

“Sure, it would be delightful to make music again” Brendon said between teeth while the other men looked at each other, concerned “But we both know how the music industry works. We know that the reason no aspiring musician has ever ranked any higher in this society is because musicians are always controlled by labels and managers so, no, Scotty, _I don’t want to sign with you_ ” Brendon felt his voice rising on his chest slowly and the last words were almost screamed. He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Scott snickered under his breath.

Brendon sighed.

“You’ll hand me over the label” he said, his voice ominously low, almost a whisper. “And you know why you will do that, Scotty?”

Brendon swiped his arm through the air violently. Scott, five feet away, flew from his chair and clashed against the wall with full force. Brendon walked to him and pulled him from the ground, holding him high by the throat. He did not need that show of force, but maybe then Scott would understand Brendon was no longer under him.

“You will give it to me” Brendon said in a whisper, close to Scott’s face “because I want it. I want your job, and you money, and your shares, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna have. Don’t worry” he laughed, letting go of the man, who struggled to stay standing “You can keep your hookers. I might even give you an allowance to pay them if you’re nice.”

Brendon went back to the head of the table while Scott collected himself, taking his chair and sitting down again, coughing. No one dared to say a word.

“Sir” one of the other men talked, looking at Nico, avoiding Brendon’s eyes “With all due respect, we cannot do things this way. We do recognize  the authority the key grants” he said quickly, glancing at Brendon then back at Nico “but there are formalities to be followed.”

Nico seemed to ponder and Brendon looked at him, waiting. Even if Brendon could boss him around now, he knew there was a procedure to follow, and he knew Nico was the specialist. Just seizing power was possible, but Brendon wanted more than that. He wanted to be respected by those below him. He wanted followers and loyalty, not only fear.

“We will have a ceremony” Nico said finally “Tonight. You will go through the task like everyone else. Then you will be awarded the higher rank.”

Brendon nodded, serious. He expected it.

While the men at the table talked about preparations, Nico stared at Brendon, who stared back, feeling the man wanted to talk.

 _What is his name?_ Nico said simply in his mind.

 _Tyler Joseph_ , the younger man responded without talking as well. Nico nodded, satisfied.

“Well, you guys seem to have it all planned” Brendon said suddenly, clapping his hands together and starling the men in black “I have business to attend before tonight. Text me the details, Scotty. I’ll be waiting.”

Brendon made his way to the door, not waiting to be dismissed as he would normally do. It was all a question of formalities now.

“Hey, Urie” Scott said suddenly, his voice hoarse from being choked by Brendon earlier, but still with a snobbish tone. When Brendon turned, he was repressing a smirk. “Don’t be late. And don’t chicken out.”

Brendon looked back at him with disinterest. He suddenly felt strangely empty, and his expression made the men in the room serious again.

“I won’t” he said simply. Then he gave a bitter smile. “And don’t worry, this isn’t my first barbecue. You know that. I have killed before.”


	7. Intermission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenna tries to cope with Tyler's story as she makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short cause I was halfway the next plot point when I realized that plot point needed it's own chapter. In other news I'm super sleepy so I did not double check anything.

Jenna left Tyler’s apartment feeling happy, but as the hours progressed she was feeling a strange pulling inside her stomach. She was excited about his proposal – even if she knew very well he never even got the chance to ask anything before she demanded to put on the ring – so she barely protested when it was time to leave him so he could practice for his gig later. But now, a few hours after leaving him, she was starting to think about all he told her, and as she started to process it all, she was getting scared.

She meant what she told him: she was scared for him, not of him. But that was actually worse. If only she loved him less, she could simply run away from him, like he suggested, and it probably would hurt for a while but she would get over it. But she loved him too much to do that.

And now she was starting to realize he was in grave danger and she could not do anything about it.

The woman tried to go about her business as usual, mostly taking care of the charity work she was doing for church. Her father was still in Columbus, but since she moved to L.A. she was working with her uncle’s church. Back when Tyler moved, she had told him she had to go to L.A. as well, because her father asked her to work with her uncle, but the truth was she wanted to move with him. That was one of the reasons she was so relieved when he showed her the ring. They were together for years and she crossed the country to be with him, and until that morning she was starting to think he wanted to dump her and didn’t know how. Everything made sense now: why he never asked her to move in, why he asked less and less for her to sleep over, why he always went either expressionless or fidgety whenever she asked more personal questions. She kept thinking he was pushing her away, and maybe he was, but not for the reasons she thought. The relief she felt with it gave her also an immediate wave of guilt. He wasn’t trying to dump her, he was extremely traumatized and afraid to open up and scare her.

Jenna went to her favorite bookstore after lunch and sat down in a café area, pulling up her laptop to use their Wi-Fi. She started making research for her next charity project when her mind started to wander back to that morning. She stared at her laptop for a while, almost afraid. She opened Google, her fingers hovering over the keyboard for a moment, unsure. Then she typed fast in the search bar: “Ohio Horror” and pressed enter.

 She was overwhelmed with link after link like the ones Tyler had described. The top one was, actually, the exact Buzzfeed article he mentioned about horrifying real life cult cases. But all the others seemed to be hosted on similar websites, most of them were the type of page that made a living off of horror content. Jenna clicked on a reddit link that seemed dedicated specifically to the case, but there was so much information that she closed the page after ten seconds feeling even more overwhelmed.

Jenna rubbed her temples and sighed, staring at all the links. She wasn’t sure why she was doing that, but it somehow made her feel like she was doing something about Tyler’s situation. Hesitantly, she changed her search: “Ohio horror child survivor”.

The top results were all comments on the Buzzfeed article again, most of them, from what she could tell from the excerpt on Google, were variations of _“but there wasn’t a child survivor of the horror?”_ and _“what do you guys think happened to the child from Ohio? He must be really messed up these days”._

Annoyed, Jenna rolled down the page until something else caught her eye, an excerpt that also seemed to be part of a comment: _“… even then I wouldn’t release the name of the child because I’m not an asshole, you nitwit…”_

Jenna frowned, letting out a small laugh and clicked the link without really reading what it was, just to check who was defending her fiancé. She landed directly on the comment section of an article, where someone seemed to question whatever was written there with very colloquial English.

_“the article was great n all but u guys seem 2 know a lot more about than you let it show like I’m sure u know where the weirdo who survided the cult is and whats his name Im pretty sure the guy is all kinds of fucked up nowadays”_

Jenna barely had the time to feel offended by the message when she saw the response.

 _“Even if we did. Maybe, just maybe, we’ve done a ton of research on the subject and maybe there is a lot of information we don’t put up because it’s_ _sensitive or even so heavily protected that putting it online would make us liable for a lawsuit. If that was the case, even then I wouldn’t release the name of the child because I’m not an asshole, you nitwit. This person, wherever he is, went through a lot of shit for you to go after him just for your own amusement. So I suggest you drop it and if you ever treat any of the cases in here with anything less than respect for the victims again you’re banned. – Adm Joe”_

Jenna smiled slightly. At least someone interested in the case had their head in the right place. She scrolled all the way up to see the name of the page: _“Defenders of Faith – Paranormal Investigators”_. Then she looked down at the name of the article and her heart skipped a bit:

_“Ohio Horror: The City of Dema”_

She realized Tyler never said the city’s name, just like he kept calling the bishop by a made up name. Of course that was too hard for him, and of course he only gave her his perspective as a child. But maybe reading would make her understand better the situation, and that seemed to be the only website to really talk about the case as a paranormal occurrence and not just a religious cult gone wrong.

Jenna started reading and almost immediately lost track of time and space. There was a lot of information in there she already knew from Tyler, but there was so, so much more, that he probably left out of his long tale just because it didn’t feel relevant to his situation. There were photos of the city, looking empty and abandoned for years now, and yet Jenna could visualize the people Tyler told her about, she could imagine little Tyler playing on the concrete patios with another child, she could imagine his mother – Jenna didn’t even ask her name – carrying him in her arms through those pathways. The photos of the apartments were even worse. Abandoned beds, covered in dust, everything grey and metal and wood just like Tyler said, but everything was so neatly arranged, not even one bed with messy sheets, not even one chair out of place, that it was actually worse than if everything was trashed. The website made note of that: it explained the strictness demanded in Dema, and also said how no one ever even tried to use the city as a temporary home. The place stayed there, all units closed even if there was no lock, so well kept that it was like no one ever lived there.

Then it showed the Prayer room. Jenna felt her stomach turn so violently she had to actually hold herself as to not throw up her lunch right there. There was not much in the pictures, just a room that was clearly used for religious ends, everything made of stone and concrete in tones of white and grey, neon white lights in the ceiling, the benches all turned to an altar where nine thrones were arranged. And yet, that was one of the worst things to see, simply because now Jenna knew exactly what happened there: Tyler’s childhood taken away, souls lost to eternal beings, all those deaths, and the fact that the man she loved saw all of that before he even learned how to write.

But the worse was the graveyard. It was just how Tyler described it, and the caption under it said the photo was taken the day the city was found, at night. It should be less clear, since it was an old photo and the resolution was not great, but the lit up neon decorating every gravestone made the image well lit, and the immense field in the picture was very visible. Jenna had to look away and catch her breath so she wouldn’t cry.

Next thing she knew, Jenna was reading article after article in the website – the one about the city was just part of a series. Every article covered in detail some aspect of Dema, their belief system, the legends surrounding it, every account anyone had about any story they heard were in there. Jenna was kind of amazed with how thorough these people were, without ever being disrespectful. She started to wonder why their website was not famous or anything, but she figured their approach of Dema as a real supernatural event made people question their seriousness.

Eventually she reached an article called “The last day and the discovery of Dema” and felt extremely uncomfortable. Every single thing in there was just as Tyler told her, but from an external point of view. It was stated one person in the city managed to get external help, but that the people who came to the rescue were never identified. The article told the same story as Tyler did about how his mother knew she was going to die so she tried to get him out, but it never mentioned anything about the bishops and promised vessel thing, and Jenna wasn’t sure if they didn’t know about it or if they chose not disclose that information as that guy had said in the other article. There was too much in there that had to be from some kind of police officer involved. The article described that the child was snuck out of the city and brought through the way out by these unknown people, and then it described the whole thing about when Tyler arrived at the precinct better than he did – which was confirming to Jenna’s theory of this being inside information: Tyler only had his childhood memories to rely on, but someone who witnessed him coming in would certainly remember it well. As the article went on, Jenna started to get nervous, thinking if it had too much information about Tyler. What if someone read that and made the connection? Someone who knew Tyler? Did these guys really have that information?

But when she reached the end of the article, it simply stated all that Tyler had told her already: the child who escaped the city and who managed to bring them down, even if it was too late, was put into foster care and had his identity protected. The article made a point to say they hoped this person was able to live his life well despite that kind of childhood. Jenna felt a tug in her heart. She had a feeling that meant they maybe could give more information and decided not to, and that made it hurt a little less, but she still felt incredibly sad.

There were more articles listed but Jenna decided it was enough and closed her laptop. She was shocked to realize the sun coming through the big glass doors had already changed its position. The woman checked the time and realized almost three hours went by and she had not checked anything for her charity work, and she knew that now she just wouldn’t concentrate anymore. She decided to go to the checkout and pay for the coffee she had earlier and a book she started to read.

“Hey, Jenna!” the young girl at the checkout said with a smile. She had droopy eyes, olive skin and a lot of colorful braids that made her look like she was in a punk band. The girl leaned over the counter, smiling big “I thought you died in that chair. Whatcha looking at in that computer? Is it Chris Hemsworth? Please tell me it’s Chris. And then show it to me.”

Jenna laughed and set the book on the counter, shrugging. She deflected the question.

“I just fell in an internet rabbit hole, and then didn’t do any of the work I had to do. The book and a coffee, please, Wendy.”

“Ok” the girl said, ringing her purchase. After putting the book in the bag, she looked at Jenna a little concerned. “Are you ok? Is there something I can help you with?”

Jenna opened her mouth, then closed it again. She wanted help with her current issue, of course, but she couldn’t exactly share it with anyone. She bit her lip, thinking.

“Actually there is. Work. I’m supposed to organize a charity event for my church and I should have looked up some people who can help us. You see, we are organizing a day for women going under cancer treatment, they are very low income and also going through that… so I was thinking, what about like, a spa day, you know? So they can relax and take care of themselves for a few hours without feeling they are taking away money from their treatment.”

“Oh, it’s nice. What exactly do you need?” Wendy asked, in full customer satisfaction mode.

“Hum… maybe beauty salons and spas that would like to do some philanthropy?”

“Oh” Wendy said with a strange tone of surprise after her eyes went briefly to the door. “That’s serendipitous. Hey, Sarah” she waved, and Jenna saw a tall woman with big blue eyes and long brown hair coming towards them “she’s just the person you need.”

“Hey, Wendy” Sarah said happily, briefly looking at Jenna “how are you, it’s been a week!”

“I’m cool. Sarah, Jenna, Jenna, Sarah” Wendy said happily, making presentations, then she frowned a little. “It’s so weird, I don’t know how the two of you never met! I see both of you at least once a week, but never at the same time…” she trailed off like she was going to continue on that, staring at a distance, but she just shook her head and looked back at them, changing the subject and talking so fast both women jumped at the same time “anyway, I think you can help each other. Jenna, Sarah is an esthetician who works at a wellness center that needs some good press since they’re just expanding their business and Sarah, Jenna is doing charity work for her church and needs people who are willing to do a free spa day for cancer patients. Discuss.”

The women immediately engaged in conversation, forgetting completely about Wendy who smiled proudly. Both of them went back to the café area to sit down and talk about business, connecting immediately.

“I am so relieved, you have no idea” Jenna said when after half an hour they already had a plan, contacts exchanged and a checklist ready for the charity event “I spent all day unable to concentrate and I thought I was going to have to change the whole schedule of the church events, I don’t even know how to thank you.”

“Don’t mention it” Sarah said, waving a hand while eating a cupcake “I needed this too, it’s good for business and my friend Kala who actually owns the wellness center is gonna be thrilled. Also, it was good to get some work done. I was travelling with my boyfriend in his business trip and it was fun and all but it was really weird to just follow him around these past few days.”

Jenna smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Sarah caught that. “Are you ok?” she asked.

Jenna shrugged, thoughtful. Now that she settled her task of the day, Tyler’s problems were creeping up inside her mind again. She realized she needed to open up to someone more than anything, but obviously she couldn’t tell everything to this stranger… or anyone, really. She still wanted to be able to give Sarah an answer.

“It’s just… my fiancé. He opened up to me about some stuff in his past that he was hiding… not because he did anything, just… a rough childhood. And it is affecting him to this day, and I really wanna help him, but I don’t know how.”

“What happened to him, if you don’t mind me asking?” Sarah asked, clearly willing to help. Jenna opened and closed her mouth, thinking about how to respond. She was not sure why, but she wanted to trust this woman she just met. _Maybe_ , she thought, _I’m too desperate to vent to someone_. She decided for a half-truth.

“His birth mom was involved with some really bad people when he was little. They killed her when she got him out that situation.”  That made it look like Tyler’s mom was involved with drug dealers or something. Jenna decided to leave it like that.

“That sounds awful!” Sarah exclaimed, then sighed. She bit her lip before speaking, like she was too considering what to tell her newest friend, then she leaned forward a little, finally saying: “My boyfriend has a difficult past, too. He got in a bad car crash when he was younger and people died. He says he doesn’t blame himself when I ask, but he has nightmares and stuff, so I know it still affects him.”

“Same with Ty” Jenna provided, nodding. Of course, she was sure Sarah’s boyfriend was not waking up in the middle of the night with red pupils and a weird voice, but that was something they could try to manage “I just wish I could help him.”

Sarah looked away for a moment before responding.

“I think… we get upset that we can’t help someone who went through something horrible when we were not there. We can’t undo their past, but we can try to make them more comfortable. We can maybe help them move on, or at least I hope so.”

Jenna nodded, approvingly. She was trying to believe that as well. She had no idea how to help Tyler move on, still – if it was just the nightmares, she would make him go back to the therapy she knew he abandoned, but the supernatural part of things didn’t seem so simple to deal with.

“How long have you too been engaged for?” Sarah asked with an excited tone, trying to get Jenna to think about something lighter. Jenna smiled, showing it worked.

“This morning actually. After he told me a bunch of stuff, he gave me the ring. He didn’t even propose, I didn’t give him the chance, the second I saw the ring, I snatched it.”

Sarah laughed along, but she was frowning. When Jenna gave her a puzzled look, she shook her head.

“My boyfriend too. Didn’t propose” she clarified “We were on this trip, and he was just saying like, how we were going to come home and get married, and I was just…” she waved her hands and laughed, looking away. Her laughter died for a second and she kept staring at a distance, like she was lost in thought. Jenna was confused, but before she could ask what was wrong the other woman just shook her head and smiled again. “Sorry. Jetlag. My head is just like… I can’t really think straight. I feel like I’m still asleep half the time. But don’t worry, by tomorrow I guess I’ll be… normal again.”

Jenna was still sensing something weirder than jetlag with Sarah’s whole demeanor but just nodded. She was feeling slightly paranoid since Tyler’s story. It was like she was going to find a bishop hidden in every corner she turned. Plus, she didn’t really know the woman, even if they got along so easily and they were talking about all those important things already. Maybe there was more going on in Sarah’s life she didn’t know about and she figured it would not be very polite to pry. She already had a lot going on.

“Well” Jenna said, gathering her things for the second time after checking her watch “I’ll get out of your hair, and you can go do your things and then get some rest. Sorry” she said quickly, realizing it could come off as if she was trying to get rid of Sarah now that she had what she needed “I just need to go. My boyf… fiancé” she corrected herself, giggling unintentionally “has a gig a little later and I wanna go with him to make sure he remembers to eat something today. Hey, in case you wanna come” Jenna pulled a flyer out of her bag, automatically. She always advertised Tyler’s work as a priority to anyone she knew, and only the mess of thoughts in her head could explain how she met someone for over half an hour and didn’t do that before “He’s playing today. You should come if you feel rested enough. But don’t feel obliged.”

Sarah took the flyer with a smile, but she was frowning again.

“Is your fiancé a musician?” she asked, confused, and when Jenna nodded, she made a face. “My boyfriend works with a music label.”

Jenna raised her eyebrows, freezing for a second. This was too much coincidence, and not in a funny way. Her paranoia was creeping up again, even if she wasn’t sure why. Sarah, interpreting her expression as something else, quickly smiled.

“I’m sure they should totally meet” Sarah said in an apologetic tone “But Bren is not really one of the big shots. He’s working a promotion, but I’m sure when he gets there, he will be happy to help your fiancé to make some connections.”

Jenna forced herself to smile. It didn’t really reach her whole expression and she felt like hooks were pulling her mouth up.

“That would be great” she said with an effort, starting to back away “I gotta go now, but we keep in touch!” Jenna practically yelled, reaching the door and almost running out of the store with a feeling she could not name, trying to tell herself nothing was wrong besides the obvious.


	8. Devotees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fundamental change happens in Brendon's life when he is forced to take a harsh decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for graphic depictions of violence

When Sarah got home, she didn’t really feel tired, but she decided to lay down anyway. Brendon was home, and he seemed very concerned.

“Sweetheart, I was tired too but now I’m much better already” he said, eyeing her with suspicion while she undressed to take a hot bath before bed “You shouldn’t feel this tired.”

“I’m ok” Sarah said honestly “I’m not really tired, I’m just… unfocused, I guess? I don’t know. It’s funny though” she added, staring at the towels in her hands distractedly “Now I’m much better. Like I can think straight. When I was at the bookstore, though, I just… I felt burnt out.” She spaced for a moment, while Brendon waited for her to finish the thought. She looked at him again. “I just couldn’t remember our last day in Melbourne for the life of me. I met this girl and I was telling her how you kind of… proposed without proposing, but I couldn’t remember that day. It was like I dreamt it.”

“You didn’t” Brendon said, feeling choked, but keeping his face neutral. Sarah rolled her eyes.

“I know that” she said, almost laughing “I’m fine, everything is clear now. I still think it’s just jetlag. I was walking around all day, checking work stuff and helping the girl I told you about with her work, barely ate anything… I just got a little confused. But I remember everything normally now” she threw the towels in bed and put her arms around his neck, smiling “I remember you said we would get married when we got back, I cried a little, then I asked you to take away that hideous souvenir you got and then…” she kissed him instead of finishing the sentence. He kissed her back but didn’t smile when she broke the kiss. Sarah sighed, holding his face in her hands. “I’m totally fine, ok? Now go, I know you have that meeting. Don’t worry.”

 

Brendon drove away from Sarah with a pulling in his stomach that had nothing to do with what he was about to do. He knew she was not tired, nor jetlagged. Obviously, the other shoe had dropped somehow. The weird thing was, it didn’t seem to be a permanent problem. He knew she was okay around him. He could sense it, he could see in her mind how clear her thoughts were. He imagined it had to do with her being distant from him and the key, maybe it weakened the effect, but that wouldn’t make sense either – otherwise, the man who scanned him at the airport would have called the authorities by now.

_Let it go_ , he told himself. He knew he had to focus. He had to be away from Sarah for long enough for his story to be believable, and the last thing he needed was to get in another car crash from being so distracted.

The truth was that he hadn’t set foot in his actual paid job in ages. When he joined the society, he had so many rules, and one of them was to serve his superiors in the outside world – which was how he ended up working for Scott and his music label. It was all a joke to Scott – an ex-aspiring musician being forced to work inside the music industry day in and day out was somehow funny to the man, and being on the inner circle, no one ever questioned his mistreatment of Brendon. There was nothing to question after all – they believed it was building character and if Brendon wanted anything more than that, he had to earn it by suffering. Even then, no one would expect him to rise above the inner circle. It was reserved to all the big ones, the billionaires, the popular, the successful, but more than anything, those willing to do literally anything to give power to the society. When Brendon said he had a plan for the key, no one even gave him the time of day to discuss it. He was told to do whatever he wanted, because they had seen failed attempts a thousand times, and what all the others got was becoming soulless servants, wearing white in dimly lit halls.

Brendon arrived at a cheap motel and stayed in his car for a while, thinking. His plan was simple, really. He told Sarah he had a late meeting to discuss the work trip – she never really asked that many details about his work anyway, and he knew now enough about the industry to make up believable stories of contracts and artists and everything else just in case she asked – and then when it got late, he would text her and say he had good news, but he had to go out with his boss. He would promise not to do anything bad, but he would say how he had to be friendly with his superiors to get his promotion, and she shouldn’t wait up. That way, he would go to the ceremony and come back home in the morning like no big deal.

Still, the ceremony started at midnight and the sun hadn’t even gone down yet, so he got a room in the motel to wait, and after it was done, he could go back there. What he was going to do was too shady to go from home and then back without a stop point, just in case someone saw something suspicious.

Brendon thought for a moment that he should maybe try to use that time to find out what Sarah’s problem was. He brushed his fingers over the key, thinking about her words. _I just couldn’t remember our last day in Melbourne for the life of me_. He closed his eyes searching… but everything was a blur. He had a faint vision of a woman with blond hair and blue eyes, laughing in a café… then nothing else. Brendon felt anxious, the certainty that this was an issue clear in his mind, and he knew that if he just searched hard enough, he would know what the blond woman had to do with it. Then he stopped himself. This was not such a pressing matter. Sarah was ok for now. He needed to focus on the ceremony, and that meant preparing his mindset too.

Brendon spent the next few hours sitting on the motel room floor, his eyes closed and his mind focused on what he had to do. If anyone came in, it would look like he was simply meditating. When there was one hour left to midnight, Brendon texted his excuse to Sarah, took a shower, changed into his best suit and left to the beach nearby.

 

The parking lot was completely empty when Brendon arrived. He knew it was late, and that part of town was not very crowded, but he still expected some movement around, with people at least going to parties and things like that since it was still Friday night. But all the apartment complexes nearby were completely dark, and all stores and restaurants were closed. Brendon took a moment to realize: of course the society would do that. They had the power to do anything. It was a little too much effort in his opinion though.

He started walking towards the sand, not really paying attention to the discomfort of wearing dress shoes at the beach. Then he realized a man a few meters away, dressed as a cop. Before he had a chance to say anything, the man stared at him with dead eyes and pointed ahead. Brendon followed the direction the man gave him.

After walking for a few minutes, he noticed a fire pit in the distance. He realized he had not seen it before because of the figures in black robes around it. Brendon did not hesitate. He was confident of what he was supposed to do.

When Brendon reached the fire pit, the men around it opened a space for him. He did not say anything and only stared at the fire, waiting. He had assisted in a ceremony before. He knew exactly what steps to take.

“We are here today” one of the men, apparently Stephen, said in a monotone voice “to ascend one of our members to a higher position. Mr. Urie” the man said. Brendon took a step forward, still not looking at the men around him. “We acknowledge you have worked your way to this position. We have seen your dedication through the years, and we are ready to accept you into an inner circle today.”

Brendon pressed his lips together to stop himself from smirking. He wanted to see Scott’s face, but he knew he was not supposed to look at any of them yet. The statement was still hilarious, though. He knew they did not give a damn about how hard he worked for it. If he didn’t have the key, he would be the one being sacrificed right now.

“Considering the uniqueness of the situation” Brendon heard Scott saying, the man’s voice making him cringe on the inside “You are not being ascended to a regular seat of the eight in the table. You are being granted the ninth seat, where you will rule the society alongside our High Leader” Scott took a moment to breath, clearly fighting with the concept of what he was saying. But when he continued, his voice was confident. “Also considering the uniqueness of the situation, this ceremony shall not abide the laws of previous ones.”

Brendon frowned, feeling like something cold was running down his spine, fear creeping up inside him for the first time in the night. He wanted to tell himself Scott was just messing with him, but he knew the man wouldn’t be stupid enough to use a ceremony to prank him. He could, however, have convinced his peers to change the ceremony for real and that was scarier.

“Mr. Urie” the first man said, taking Brendon out of his spiraling thoughts “Do you accept the position that is being bestowed upon you?”

Brendon gave another step forward before speaking, relieved that this was the moment when he could finally lift his head.

“Yes.” He said simply.

“And do you accept the duties that your position carries?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. Please approach” Stephen said, sounding pleased, and Brendon walked towards him while a man in white came from the shadows and handed him a katana. When it was Brendon’s turn to do the same, he had fantasized on what would happen if he just used the katana to get rid of some members. He never dared to do anything of course, just like the man in white had not, disappearing into the shadows right after handing the object. Brendon stood by the man in black, expecting to be handed the katana then, but the man turned to the circle, and he waited.

“As mentioned by Scott, adjustments had to be made. Considering the importance of the position you are about to hold, the inner circle has decided to adjust some key points of the ceremony. Which means” the mean hesitated for a fraction of a second, and Brendon felt a pull in his stomach “that the sacrifice to be made to honor the entities shall be of a non-initiated soul.”

Brendon frowned. He usually knew better than to question the society, but he was more confused than afraid now.

“I thought this was not allowed” he said carefully. None of those men could go against him, but he did not want to let it show any emotion towards that, he just wanted to understand “I thought the point of the sacrifices was to deliver… processed souls, that were no longer tainted by the material world and all of that, in addition to, you know, avoid suspicion.”

“I warned you all he would chicken out” Scott laughed. Brendon closed his fists to prevent himself to do something he could regret later.

“I’m not. I’m just confused.”

Instead of answering his concerns, the man with the katana looked away. The same teenage girl from before came towards the light, rolling Nico in a wheelchair. Brendon was only slightly surprised. Of course the bishop would want to be there for it, but the rumor was that Nico had no condition to leave his quarters for years now.

“These are all true” Nico said in his raspy voice, sounding more tired than ever “but a concession was made. Souls that have been prepared are… easier to consume, to take. But the ones that are not, well, those are… tastier” the man laughed openly, showing yellowed teeth while most people around looked away. He then got serious again “but that is not the only point of the ceremony. If I just wanted a fancy dinner, I wouldn’t need necessarily for them to be dead, would I?” he patted the hand of the girl holding his wheelchair, as a demonstration only, since the girl had not shown a reaction not even once. She was also soulless. She was proof that he did not need that. “But this is also a symbol to show your commitment. And since you are about to ascend to a higher position, you must be held to a higher standard. Your task needs to be harder.”

Brendon nodded, serious, but he felt his stomach turning around in knots. He was starting to understand way too much. He willed his mind to get away from certain thoughts, specially since Nico could hear him, but he couldn’t help thinking of his girlfriend, home alone, confused. _Not Sarah_ , the thought escaped against his will. _Not Sarah, please, anyone but Sarah, not her_.

Nico gave no indication of listening to him as the man beside Brendon gestured to another helper in white, who walked away. He took a deep breath, trying to concentrate again. It was getting harder, though. The thoughts of the men around him, so quiet and poise on the outside, were getting way to loud. Scott’s thoughts were almost screaming with excitement, since he was sure Brendon would fail. And then he realized, someone else’s thoughts, someone who was confused and scared and getting closer and closer.

Finally, the helper in white came back, along with the helper dressed as a cop that had been watching the parking lot. They were dragging a young woman with them, with a bag over her head and hands tied in front of her body. She was pleading to be released, stumbling with her words, and even though her voice was a bit familiar, Brendon felt the relief engulf his body. This wasn’t Sarah, for sure, judging by her frame and height. He prevented himself from letting out a sigh.

At least until Scott walked towards the girl and pulled the bag from her head, and she was brought closer to the fire. Then his horror grew back again.

“You might proceed however you wish” the man beside Brendon spoke, showing no emotion whatsoever regarding the girl who kept looking around, trying to understand where she was. “But the sacrifice has to happen. It’s the formality required for your ascension.”

Brendon couldn’t move. He kept staring at the girl. The black long dress she was wearing, characteristic of sacrifices, seemed to have been forced on her, since it did not fit properly. Her long hair was messy, some strands tied back and some loose. Brendon noticed with horror how familiar her traces were, despite the hair dyed blonde and a lot of piercings. She looked exactly like her sister, even if she was older than her sister ever got to be.

The girl finally noticed Brendon. The second her eyes landed on him, she froze. He searched her mind, and quickly, wished he hadn’t: amidst her confusion, there was a shred of hope.

“Brendon?” she whispered.

Her voice was also the same as her sister’s. There was no doubt of who she was now, because the second he heard her voice, he had to fold his body, putting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath, as he heard those last words again. _Watch the road_.

Brendon remembered the last time he saw this girl. It was that same day. He picked up Audrey at her house. They were going to commemorate. Her 9-year-old sister came running, asking to tag along and they dismissed her, saying she was just a baby. She stomped, pouting, but stayed behind, her hair darker and curlier than it was now, her baby face fresh on his mind as the last time his girlfriend had seen her family. Back then, the only similarity the girls had were their brown eyes and one or another feature, but 12 years later, you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.

Audrey’s little sister. A carbon copy of her.

They were making him kill Audrey again.

“Brendon? Is that you?” the girl said, her voice trembling. Audrey… no, not Audrey. Rosie? Was that her name? Somehow the memory of her face was clearer than her name. Rosie was calmer now. She was starting to think this was some sort of sick prank. A prank on Brendon. She was sure he had no idea they were doing that to her. She was sure he was going to end that mess. He wished he couldn’t read her mind.

“We don’t have all night, Urie” Scott said, making no efforts to hide his satisfaction to see Brendon faltering. He wanted to crush the man under his feet, but he felt like he could not stand straight again. He wanted to throw up, but his stomach was empty, so he could only try to fight back the acid reflux to pretend he didn’t feel so sick. The man beside Brendon scolded Scott, saying something about allowing Brendon time to choose, and Brendon heard his nemesis scoffing. “I’m just saying. He might as well admit he can’t do it and save us some time.”

“I can do it” Brendon forced himself to say, breathing with difficulty. He stared at the sand under his feet, because whenever he closed his eyes, he was in the car again, and he couldn’t take it. “I’ve done it before.”

“No, you haven’t” Nico said, and Brendon lifted his head to look at the bishop. He seemed more tired than ever, leaning on his chair as if he was about to pass out, which he probably was. “That was an accident, no matter what your guilt tells you. You never killed anyone, at least not intentionally.” The words were the same therapists had told Brendon over the years, but his tone was far from soothing. Nico was just making a point. “This is the real thing. This is where you decide the kind of man you are. Choose.”

Brendon felt something shift inside of him. The kind of man he was. He thought he knew that, but apparently not. If he did, he would not hesitate now, he would have already done something, even if it was refusing to kill the girl. He didn’t want to kill her, of course, but why was he hesitating so much? That _did_ say a lot about the kind of man he was. He knew that he could give up. He would still be more powerful than anyone there, but he would have no respect whatsoever. That was the one thing the society was asking of him to grant him what he wanted. He felt like he had to say yes. So why was it so hard?

If this was Sarah, he would have turned away easily.

Then he stopped breathing for a second.

Would he?

_Of course_ , he told himself immediately. He would never hurt Sarah; he was sure of that. But he wasn’t sure about anyone else. It was not like he had any friends anymore, and his family shunned him a long time ago. Sarah was the only person in the world he felt a real connection with. She was the one person he knew for sure he would never hurt. But did that make all the others expendable?

His feelings for Audrey changed when she died. Not right away, of course, but he knew he didn’t love her anymore. His feelings towards Audrey were purely guilt. But guilt wouldn’t bring her back. And even if it did, he wasn’t sure he would want that anymore. Just because that car crash wrecked his life, he didn’t want to go back and undo everything. It was pointless. As for his present, he didn’t want to kill Rosie. She was innocent, and the only reason she was here today was because he made one huge mistake twelve years ago. He wished her no harm, specially since he knew she already suffered a lot because of him: she lost her sister and after that her whole family fell apart. But she was dying tonight, whether he liked it or not. And if he was really, truly being honest with himself? He really wanted to fulfill the task that was given to him. He wanted, more than anything, to be respected. And that was the only way to get it. He wanted, above anything, all the power he could have.

_And Sarah’s happiness_ , he felt the need to remind himself. He could not lose sight of that. Of course, she would not approve any of this. But she didn’t understand yet. He had to do it for them.

He wanted to do it for himself.

Brendon slowly stood up, calming his breaths, pushing away all the conflicting feelings. He needed to control this and not let it control him. That was the whole point. It was what it was, and he had to do what he had to do, as awful as it was.

He watched as Rosie’s hope slowly fell apart as she watched his stern expression. Brendon looked at the man beside him and extended a hand, being finally handed the katana. Rosie started to panic again, shaking her head frantically.

“Whatever the hell is going on” she said hurriedly in a choked voice “please stop. Please let me go. I won’t tell anyone. Please, Brendon” she choked again, as Brendon gave a step towards her, firmly gripping the handle of the sword. “Please. You know me. You played cards with me when Audrey took forever to get ready. Remember that? You helped me braid my hair. I had to cut part of it off on third grade because of that. You know me.”

Brendon sighed. “You are not a child anymore, Rosie.”

“I don’t deserve this! You know I don’t deserve this!” the girl yelled. She was crying freely now, but she didn’t try to escape, aware that there was nowhere to run. Her despair was imploding inside of her now. “You already took my sister from me! You can’t do that!”

Brendon took no offense. Of course, he knew she blamed him, everyone did, and they were right. None of this was fair, after all. But this was way harder to do when the girl wouldn’t stop crying.  This was one of the reasons he had no problem with the ceremony if this was just a nameless helper. They were lost, or on the verge of it, and the sacrifice for them was a kindness. If not an honor – he had been a helper long enough to not be fooled by that notion - at least, a relief. They usually surrendered. He didn’t want to ask anyone to hold her down.

_You can do it whatever way you want_ , he heard Nico saying in his head. _But you have to do it or quit already_.

Brendon sighed, deciding. He approached Rosie carefully, keeping the blade away from her, even though she kept eyeing it nervously.

“Hey” he said gently, raising his hand and slowly putting it in her face. “Look at me, Rosie. Look at me.”

She recoiled when his hand touched her tear-stained cheek, but her confusion prevented her from moving away. The second Rosie looked in his eyes, she seemed to freeze.

_Focus on me_ , Brendon said inside her head. This was easier. This was more intimate and prevented everyone else from judging the way he handled this. Nico could certainly hear him, but Nico had no agency in the matter. _Look me in the eye. It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re calm. You’re safe. There is nothing to worry about. You want this. You will be okay. This will take just a second. All you have to do is surrender. Then you will see Audrey again_.

Brendon thought about the day she talked about, one of the last times she saw her sister. He showed her the image that was already floating in her own mind, but clearer: Brendon laughing in the sofa, as Audrey tried to untangle her sister’s hair gently after he tried to braid it. Rosie was too busy pouting to see it that day, but he remembered clearly how Audrey tried to refrain from laughing and he showed that to Rosie now.

Rosie stopped crying, and then she stopped fighting. Her eyes were glazed, but a slight smile was forming in her lips. She sighed, content. _Okay_ , she thought simply. Her mind was empty apart from that memory.

Brendon let go of her face, feeling worse than he ever felt for anything he had done so far. The crash was a sea of despair, and everything he did for the society was despicable and humiliating, but this… this was another territory.

He took a step back and watched sadly as she stared forward, not seeing anything else. She fell to her knees obediently, closing her eyes. Then she bowed her head, waiting.

_It’s easier not to think too much_ , he heard that voice that was not his own saying. That was true. He felt better if he didn’t think about it. So he simply took a deep breath, raised the sword in the air and brought it down with full force, hearing an unpleasant sound when the blade broke the young woman’s spine, feeling some of her blood hit his face. Her head rolled in the sand and her body fell a second later.

Brendon stood there watching as her open neck gushed blood like in a Tarantino movie for a few seconds, covering the sand in red. He had a strange rush in his ears, so he took a moment to realize the men around him were commemorating, cheering and even clapping. They were talking, but he wasn’t sure what they said. His head was buzzing. Stephen, still leading the ceremony, pulled him away from the body, saying something that seemed like praise, but Brendon couldn’t listen. He looked at Nico. The old man was comfortably set in his chair now, his eyes closed and his head thrown back as if he was enjoying the weather. He was not, of course: Brendon could not only sense, but also see in some strange way, how Rosie’s soul seemed to emanate from her body like a translucent cloud of smoke and move, first up, but then turn and travel towards the bishop. He felt a strange emptiness eroding away his insides, a type of disgust and acceptance he never thought he could feel before. _I did that. There’s no turning back_. But then again, he wasn’t sure there ever was.

Brendon snapped out of his trance only to realize a red robe was put over his head. He tugged the sides and noticed it was not the same as the bishop: his robe was decorated with black patterns, as a sign that even though he ruled as a bishop, he was still part of the human council. He wasn’t sure how much human he really felt. He also realized the man beside him had stopped talking and was waiting for him to say something. Maybe they expected a speech? Brendon just shook his head, still feeling too weird to talk. He didn’t even have enough energy to properly put on the arms of the robe, and he realized he was still holding on to the katana, distractedly rubbing a thumb over the bloodied handle.

The man beside him just shrugged. That seemed to be the cue for the other men in black to relax, and they started talking to each other, joking, in a colloquial tone they didn’t use on official situations, while some helpers came to move Rosie’s body. They had to clean the scene, so they would not get caught. Maybe they would fake an accident. Maybe she would just vanish. Her family would never even know they lost a second daughter, let alone that it was again by his hand.

But he wasn’t the same man that killed Audrey, not anymore. He stared at the helpers as their white clothes turned red.

“…either way I believe this won’t take long” Brendon overheard Stephen saying. The buzzing was diminishing, and his hearing was coming back, but he didn’t turn away. “We might even have some time to celebrate. I mean, some of you. My wife needs me home as soon as possible. But I do recommend you check the new club on Melrose Avenue, it’s very much the kind of thing you enjoy.”

“Well, it’s still early, so I might do that” Brendon heard Scott saying. _Scott_. The man wasn’t there just making conversation. He went to talk to Stephen just to find a way to annoy Brendon – that wasn’t speculation. Scott’s mind was not hard to read. “I thought Urie was gonna chicken out and we would be here until sunrise. Glad you arranged some balls, Urie” Scott said cheerfully, bumping Brendon’s arm. Brendon sensed Stephen tensing up immediately, but Scott either didn’t notice or didn’t care, because he continued, lowering his voice slightly, but still loud enough for the others to hear it: “When I suggested to take the girl I imagined you would hesitate. At least it was better than the other option. No one wants to see your blue-eyed beauty without a head, right? Although I’m guessing she would still be useful then.”

Brendon could say he didn’t think about what he did next since it was so fast, but that would be a lie. He knew very well what he was doing, he just didn’t have to think about it because it was one of the easiest decisions of his life. So he grabbed Scott by the robe and pushed him against the rocks right behind them and, before the man had a chance to react, he  pierced him with the katana that was still in his hand, stopping only when the handle didn’t allow him to go further. Brendon stared into the man’s eyes for a second, wondering. Was that enough for a slow death? Scott struggled to breathe, his face turning red, blood starting to come out of his mouth. It seemed like a yes.

Brendon let go of the man, pulling the blade out of his body and turning around. The circle was silent again and every single person was frozen in place, even the helpers who were crouched by Rosie’s body. Only the teenage girl who held Nico’s wheelchair didn’t react. Nico himself had a mysterious expression Brendon was not concerned with reading.

Brendon handed the katana to Stephen calmly, and the man took it, hesitant. He looked over his shoulder to the man agonizing in the sand, but then he realized he didn’t really feel like saying anything. Scott was no longer his problem. He would pay for his last remark over the next few hours. And wherever he was going, he was not having any fun either. Then he turned back to the circle of terrified men.

“Scott’s death is a tragic accident. A car crash, maybe” Brendon shrugged. He wasn’t using his power; he didn’t have to. They had to do his biding now. “Maybe the same accident that killed and decapitated this poor girl” he gestured over to Rosie. When everyone seemed to understand, he continued. “All Scott’s assets will pass on to me. I don’t care how you do it” he said fixating his gaze on Marcus, the man who mostly dealt with the society’s finances, and Marcus seemed to recoil in his spot “just make sure it’s legit. I’m sure there is no one to miss this piece of shit, let alone to reclaim his assets.”

“I…” Marcus stuttered, not even trying to conceal his fear “I t-t-think he has… a… a n-niece.”

“Then work it out” Brendon shrugged calmly. Marcus nodded, terrified. Brendon looked around. “I guess you’re getting it. Things will change now. Don’t treat me like I’m one of you. I’m not. I’m above you all. Follow my rules and you’ll be fine. And don’t you ever, ever, think of threatening or insulting my future wife again. Or I won’t be as nice I’m being with Scotty here.”

Brendon waited until everyone nodded their understanding and started walking away without thinking twice.

 

The next few hours were a blur.

Brendon didn’t remember taking off the robe. He didn’t remember getting in his car and driving back to the motel. At some point, he realized he had blood on his shirt, on his hands, on his face. He caught himself in the bathroom, trying to wash the blood off his hands and wrists, then realized he would have to shower. Brendon knew he needed to rest, he needed to process all that happened that night, but he made an effort to take off his clothes, take a shower and wash his shirt in the dimly lit bathroom. He could not go back home like that.

 

When he woke up the next day with a jump, Brendon felt a lot better. He expected nightmares and tiredness, but he was fairly certain he laid down the night before, to wait until the shirt he washed was dry, and next thing he knew it was morning. It was like he blinked. The night before felt like a dream, but he knew it wasn’t. He tried again to remember details after the ceremony, but his mind was blank. He wasn’t sure if he did anything apart from driving to the motel, showering and sleeping. He had a strange feeling he had been crying, but he didn’t remember doing that either. Maybe it was for the better.

 

Brendon still felt out of it when he arrived home. His mind was clear now, but it became obvious the gaps in his memory were not going away. He wondered why his mind decided to erase random spots after the ceremony, but the sound of the girl’s neck breaking under the blade was still fresh in his memory as if he had just heard it.

Sarah was still asleep, and Brendon took a moment to observe her under the sheets, as peaceful as she could be. He wanted to hold her against him more than anything, but he could not wake her up to do that without an explanation, so he sat in the bed and started taking off his shoes, slowly. Sarah, however, shifted around the second he started moving next to her, so his efforts were in vain. He smiled at her, tiredly, whispering “hey beautiful”. She smiled back slightly, but she had a strange expression. Brendon laid beside her, still clothed, holding her hands. “What’s wrong?” he asked, worried.

“Nothing” Sarah said quickly, releasing one of her hands from his to caress his face. Brendon closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the contact, then watched her face again. She was frowning. “I had a bad dream about you.”

“Really?” Brendon asked, putting her hair behind her ear distractedly. “You looked so peaceful. It didn’t look like a nightmare.”

“I don’t think it was” Sarah whispered. This moment, at this hour, it felt like they were in a bubble, their own private world, where rules for normality didn’t matter and where they could say things that didn’t make sense to each other and still be understood. “It was… weird. It didn’t feel like a nightmare. It felt normal. But I kept thinking ‘this is bad, this shouldn’t be happening’. But then I just… I can’t remember exactly what it was. It was more a feeling than an event. There was something wrong, but I couldn’t react to it. I knew I should do something, and I kept trying to talk to you, but… I didn’t. I couldn’t pinpoint what was the problem. I just kept thinking to myself something was wrong.”

“Oh, sweetheart” Brendon said, pulling her into his arms and feeling her sigh with relief with the contact. “It’s okay. I’m here with you. Nothing is wrong.” Brendon peeked at her mind, and she still seemed shaken. He sighed. This wouldn’t hurt anyone. He was just helping her, right? “Stop worrying. Forget about the bad dream. You don’t need to remember any bad dreams anymore.”

He felt Sarah’s body go limp for a second as they key worked on her. Then she sighed again, and now she sounded completely different.

“Are you ok?” Sarah asked, completely focused on him, as if he had just laid by her side, the conversation about the dream already wiped from her mind.

“Yeah” he said simply “I just missed you. But you know I can’t say no to Scott. The guy already hates me. If he invites me anywhere as a sign of good faith, I have to go.”

“Ugh, Scott” Sarah groaned, and Brendon laughed. It was adorable to hear her getting mad at anyone. She was as threatening as a little puppy. She started fiddling with his buttons, dangerously close to where the key was, but Brendon didn’t do anything because he knew she wouldn’t be able to touch it. “Did you get the promotion?”

“Probably” Brendon said carefully. He had been thinking how to lie to her about that, how to make up a story about ascending from Junior Executive to CEO, but now that Scott was dead, it was going to be taken care of more easily. He had to wait, though. “He said something in that direction, but then he wanted to go to that new club on Melrose Avenue, you know which one?” he waiter for her to nodded and continued “So he said we would keep talking there, and then he got too drunk to talk about anything. So I ended up leaving with some of the guys, but since I had a few drinks, I crashed in one of their couches.”

Sarah hummed an understanding. She seemed busy scratching a point in his chest.

“Bren” she said softly “what is this? Your shirt is stained.”

Brendon looked down, feeling his throat tightening. She was rubbing her fingers over a point in his shirt where the blood didn’t come out right. He was scared for a second, but then he realized she was more worried he had been too friendly with some stripper than with anything else.

“Oh, yeah” he said, showing no concern whatsoever “Fucking Scott spilled his drink on me. I tried washing it on a bathroom sink but I didn’t do a good job.”

Sarah sighed, relieved. She was concealing it well, but she always hated when he went out for clubs with his boss, as he said, worried he would get drunk and cheat on her or get in another car wreck. He never did, of course, but that was also because he hadn’t been in a club in ages. Usually that was his excuse for when he needed to do something for the society late at night. Ceremonies rarely ended early, so he always made it look like Scott liked to take him along to clubs. He also made it look like he had friends at work that let him sleep in their couches even if he hadn’t had a friend in ages.

“Well” she said, planting a quick kiss in his lips and getting out of bed in lightning speed “Why don’t you take these clothes off? I’ll do laundry later. And get some rest, you must be all sore from sleeping in a bumpy couch. I’ll get us breakfast and I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

“You are so good to me. I don’t think I deserve you.” Brendon said, smiling, with sincerity. Sarah just smiled and rolled her eyes, thinking he was being facetious. She leaned to kiss him one more time and hopped out of the bedroom.

Brendon went to the bathroom to drop his dirty clothes on the basket, checking again if there were no more stains that resembled blood. He was about to turn back to the room when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

He suddenly remembered spending at least half an hour staring at himself in the mirror the night before. This was at some point after he realized he needed a shower and going to sleep. He was not sure what he was looking for then, and he wasn’t sure now either, but he could not stop staring at his reflection.

He was still the same man he had always been, or at least he looked like it. There was no visible difference apart from the Devil’s key, now hanging over his naked chest. But somehow something was fundamentally changed, and he just couldn’t name what it was. Maybe that darkness in his eyes was not there before, but he was not so sure.

_Maybe_ , he told himself, _I’m just becoming the real me. Maybe I’m just becoming what I was always meant to be_. And as he searched inside of him for pain and horror for what he had done, he was surprised to find none. There was no regret. Maybe a sting on his chest when he thought of the girl’s tears the night before. A chill in his spine when he imagined what Sarah would say if she knew. But apart from that, there was nothing else. He was doing what he had to do for them to be happy. And if he was being honest, more than anything, he was doing what he had to do for himself.

_I have the power now_ ; Brendon told his image in the mirror as it stared back at him with empty eyes. _And nothing will stop me, not ever again. I see what’s mine and take it_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally googled Brendon's past girlfriends because names are hard, but it's safe to say I know nothing about Audrey - I just needed a tragic backstory (the sound of my hypocrisy criticizing fridged wives is baffling).  
> I'm not particularly happy with this chapter, but it had to be done and it was really hard. I had to re-read it twice and I'm still unsure.  
> After this, things will take a turn and we'll pick up the pace. I hope.  
> I haven't slept in two days writing this so yeah.


	9. Defenders of Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and the Defenders of Faith share their concerns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm angry I didn't get to include Brendon's POV on this chapter and I know I could but I wanted to be done with it.  
> The other days I had a breakdown for having like 3 readers in here. I hope you guys know that you're the only reason I post.  
> I want to post on wattpad too cause maybe I'll get some readers there. I wonder if I can?

The next few days were a whirlwind.

Tyler was starting to feel like his life could be normal if not for the nightmares. They happened all the time and were sometimes quite gruesome, but he was managing. He took a lot of comfort from the fact that Jenna was staying over every night now, but he always had to insist with her that she could go home if she wanted, since it didn’t seem like anything else was going on for now. He joked that he was not killing anyone so far, so it should be ok, but the truth was that he was afraid that if he had another episode, she would be the first to get hurt.

Jenna, in turn, kept repeating she wanted to be with him anyway. She didn’t tell him, but the real reason she was staying over was because he was having episodes every night – but all he did was sit down in bed, with red eyes wide open, most of the time saying nothing. Since he was not getting hurt or hurting anyone, she wanted to spare him, but she was also afraid he would end up doing something. She was sleeping very badly because of that, and Jenna realized all she wanted was to talk to someone. She vented with Sarah a few times over the phone while they planned the charity event, but she couldn’t really open up. Then, a few days later, it hit her that there was at least one person who knew exactly what she was going through and could at least try to help her: Josh.

Not that Josh had a lot of advice to give anyone. The next week on Friday, while Jenna woke up early to go check the venue for the event that would happen on Sunday, Josh woke up early out of pure anxiety. He offered to go to the airport to pick up Patrick and his friend, but they said there was no need for that since they would arrive too early and intended to stop by the hotel to rest, so they agreed to meet later for lunch. That meant Josh had a lot of free time to rethink what he was going to do, which was the last thing he wanted. He knew if he thought too much about it, he wouldn’t go through with it, and he had to remind himself that there were two guys who flew across the country because he promised them the truth. He hoped this would pressure him into doing it. Of course, his biggest motivation was helping Tyler even if it was against his own will, but he was not looking forward to having that fight with his best friend. Just to think of his look of disappointment was enough to make all his work against anxiety almost evaporate. Plus, if he was being honest, seeing Tyler mad scared him a little.

Josh chose a diner, not only because he knew the city better but because he needed a place Tyler wouldn’t find them. So he picked one of the only places they disagreed on. Josh loved going there for the cheap, greasy yet tasty food. Tyler never said if he liked the food, but he hated going there anyways because he did not like one of the waitresses. He didn’t really say why, he only mentioned that “she gave him the jitters”. Josh agreed that the woman was strange, but it never seemed to him like a big deal. Josh just accepted this was one of those things Tyler knew without explanation, but never seemed important enough to question him too much.

Josh arrived 20 minutes earlier, another courtesy of his anxiety. The weird waitress, as she became known to him, greeted him and asked him what he wanted, and he asked for a coffee just so he wouldn’t feel awkward for sitting there waiting. Coffee certainly was not going to help his nerves and was for sure the cheapest item on the menu, but the waitress, surprisingly, smiled. Josh wasn’t sure why, but that just made him more nervous.

Just when he was about to finish the coffee and was contemplating if he should get another one, Josh saw two men entering the diner. One of them had light brown hair and thick glasses, and since Josh knew it was Patrick since they skyped to set the arrangements for the trip, it meant that the other guy, with long brown hair and a disgruntled beard had to be his friend Pete. He waved at them and they smiled and came sit with him while Josh felt like he was going to throw up the coffee he just had. He gulped the rest of the liquid to prevent it.

They exchanged pleasantries and the men sat down immediately taking a menu while the weird waitress came back. They quickly chose their food, Pete picked a burger and fries while Patrick went for pancakes despite being past noon. Pete shook his head while the waitress walked away. “Eliza is going to kill you” he said.

Patrick was staring at the waitress. “Only if you tell her” he answered, taking his time to look back at Pete and Josh. “My wife has me on a strict diet because of cholesterol and stuff” he shrugged “but I’m not dying if I skip it a few days.”

“You have no idea how greasy the food here is” Josh shook his head, trying to conceal his anxiety “You just might.”

Patrick laughed while Pete raised his eyebrows, shaking his head.  Then Patrick sighed. “Ok, I know we have stuff to talk about, but can we wait for the food? I don’t want the waitress to listen to anything. She kind of gives me the jitters.”

Pete rolled his eyes, but Josh frowned.

“Ty say that a lot” he blurted out. Patrick sat straighter, fast, as if he felt a shock.

“Is Ty your friend that… wait, no” he shook his head “Food first.”

They waited in a nervous silence, eventually breaking it to talk about the flight, the hotel or the weather, only to fall silent again. After a few minutes, the waitress came back, bringing the food they ordered. She turned with a yellow smile to Josh. “Are you sure you don’t want me to get anything else to you, honey?”

Josh felt a chill in his spine, noticing for the first time how the waitress was, in fact too strange. Or maybe he was projecting what people were saying.

“No, thanks. I’m not feeling well” he said weakly.

“Let me know if you change your mind” she said, smiling again and leaving. The three men stayed silent, watching the woman walk away, until Pete finally spoke.

“Okay, I totally see what you mean” he told Patrick.

Patrick turned around, excited. “Right?” He shivered and turned back to Josh. He nodded, sighing. “Okay, sorry. I know I said food then business, so…” he gestured for Josh to talk, starting to eat.

Josh immediately got ten times more nervous. He took a deep breath, trying to focus.

“Okay” he said finally, very carefully “First, I need to know what you guys know about the Ohio Horror. Not what is on the website” he added when Pete opened his mouth “The other stuff. I know you guys know more than what is in there. I need to know what exactly it is.”

Pete and Patrick exchanged a look that lasted for a minute. Pete tilted his head, seeming suspicious, while Patrick bit his lip, nodding slightly. Josh was not nervous about it, because even without all the weird stuff, his friendship with Tyler was like that. They didn’t really had to speak to say anything. Finally, Patrick turned back to him, looking down.

“We can’t disclose it. I know it’s important” he added quickly when Josh grunted “But you gotta see it from our perspective, man” he lowered his voice a little “You invited us here promising to tell us something we don’t know. You hadn’t told us anything yet, but you wanna know what we know?”

“The way this situation is now” Pete said “it kinda sounds like you are the one looking for a story. For all we know, you could be a journalist undercover trying to poke at the Ohio Horror story and trying to use us for that. It wouldn’t be the first time, believe me.”

Josh raised his eyebrows, but Pete and Patrick didn’t seem to be joking. He sighed, hiding his face in his hands. The thought of journalists still trying to find Tyler after all these years was revolting, but the idea of telling these two everything was driving him crazy. But he was still trying to be as careful as he could.

“Ty…” he started, hesitant, staring at his empty cup “Ty is very important to me. He’s my best friend. He’s like family. And I’m here, risking everything, risking… risking our whole friendship. I’ve never thought of taking that risk. And over the years, I have seen… scary things. Absurd things. But nothing, until now, made me so terrified that I felt like this was the only option.” He looked up, and the men in front of him were serious, clearly starting to believe him. Josh took a deep breath. “I’m not asking you to tell me the facts that were omitted. I wanna know if you had a name. If you got that information legally. If you talked to any police officers. Maybe a detective.”

Pete and Patrick exchanged another look.

“Maybe” Pete said, slowly. “How would you know that?”

“The names were redacted” Patrick blurted out. Pete gave him a stare, clearly thinking he shouldn’t say it. Patrick, however, was already sold on Josh’s sincerity. “When they let us look at the copy of the file, the names were redacted. We tried to decipher what was redacted, but we got letters, at best.”

Josh nodded, taking a deep breath. He imagined something like that. If the guys spoke to the detectives that helped Tyler when he was a kid, they had the official version of things. How they decided to believe the supernatural side of things, then, was the important part.

Josh was about to ask them about that, when a hurricane of cashmere and blond hair came from the door right to where he was. He raised his eyes and saw Jenna there, out of breath as if she was running.

“Jenna?” he asked dumbfounded. She glanced at the men sitting with Josh, but fixated her stare on him. He shook his head. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been calling you all morning” she said, annoyed, shaking her phone in her hand, adjusting her coat with the other. “I’m trying to get a hold of you all week. What is going on?”

Josh shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. He had seen Jenna calling him a few times before, but kept avoiding her. He knew it was only a matter of time before she wanted to talk to him about Tyler, and he was willing to help her, but he knew that he was not going to be able to look her in the eye with what he was about to do. He used all his energy to be able to keep a poker face whenever he had to talk to Tyler himself, but one more person to lie was a little too much.

“I’m in the middle of something. It’s a… work thing. Can we talk about it later?” He asked, then frowned. “How did you find me by the way?”

“Funny you asked” she answered with a grimace, and her tone made the three men at the table shiver “I called Deb. To be fair, I lied a bit. I told her we had to meet but you still hadn’t texted me the address. She presumed it was about ‘the Tyler thing’” she said with air quotations, and then she took another look at Pete and Patrick. They seemed to shrink a little. “She told me you would be here. Now, I wonder, why are you here, talking about Tyler with two strangers, clearly avoiding me and possibly Tyler himself, since you’re in the one place in town where he for sure wouldn’t go?”

Josh exchanged a look with Pete and Patrick, and they both seemed suddenly interested in their food again. He  gulped, looking at the ground, trying to think of an excuse. Would she understand? He had no idea how she was coping with that whole thing, and it was his own fault. Josh, then, decided to tell the truth. If she reacted badly the worst she could do was to talk to Tyler, and they would have to talk to him sooner or latter, so Josh imagined he would have to deal with the consequences either way.

“I’m trying to help Ty” he said finally. He gestured to the two men who had their faces buried in the food “They might know how. C’mon, Jenna” he said when she seemed shocked “You know he is going to keep insisting he can deal with it. I’m sure he is saying the same thing to you as he says to me. But, no offense, I know him longer, and I know he never had to deal with something like this. Not even the tree house thing… you know, the tree house thing?” he waited for her to nod, then kept going “that was the most scared for him I ever was. This is worse. And he will keep insisting everything is fine when it’s not, and things will escalate until… until the worst happens. And I cannot let things go that way without at least trying something.”

Jenna sighed and closed her eyes, and Josh could see she was struggling. When she opened her eyes, she looked away for a second, clearly avoiding to cry.

“Do you think… you think that… thing” she forced the word, half trying to avoid to say too much in front of strangers, half struggling with what Tyler told her about the bishops “… might try to… get him again?”

“You tell me” Josh said, his throat feeling tight. He hadn’t really thought about that so clearly until now, and avoided even imagining that scenario to prevent his anxiety from getting worse “You have been spending every night with him from what I heard. Is he as fine as he says he is?”

Jenna lowered her head and pressed the bridge of her nose between her fingers. Instead of answering, she looked down on Josh.

“He’s going to kill you”

“I know”

“Literally” she added.

“I know, ok?” Josh answered, a little louder than he intended. He looked around and lowered his tone again “I need to do this. Because… because it’s Tyler. And I know he would do the same for me.”

Jenna kept looking at him for a few seconds. Josh realized Pete and Patrick were staring from one to the other. Finally, she sighed.

“Ok” the woman said, taking off her coat. “Scoot over.”

Josh gave her some space on the seat and Jenna looked from him to the men in front of them.

“Hi, I’m Jenna, I’m Tyler’s fiancé” she said cheerfully, extending her hand. When both shook it, hesitant, she continued. “I wanna know what you people want with my future husband.”

Both Pete and Patrick looked over at Josh, as if telling him to handle it. He sighed, turning to her.

“They might have information” Josh said carefully “On… on how to handle… the bishops.” Jenna stopped breathing for a second. This was the first time any of them talked about what happened using the proper terms. Josh took a deep breath and continued. “I found them online. They have a paranormal website and they research the occult. They were just telling me how they got information on the Ohio Horror from an inside source.”

Jenna turned to the men, her face suddenly lighting up with understanding.

“You’re the Defenders of Faith” she said knowingly. When Josh seemed surprised, she explained. “When Tyler told me everything, I kind of… went online and looked up the Ohio Horror. I don’t know, it made me feel like I was doing something. I ended up on the same website. Is any of you Joe?”

“Hum, I’m Pete” the man said promptly “This is Patrick. Joe and Andy are in the team, but they stayed in Chicago.”

“I called them here” Josh intervened “so they might help me convince Tyler to find a solution instead of… you know, waiting. They were telling me that the information they have in the website came from a detective, but the files had their names redacted.”

“Do you think it’s the same detective that…” Jenna started, but Josh simply nodded. Patrick cleared his throat.

“So… Are you guys gonna share something or…”

Josh looked at Jenna, nervous. She raised her hands.

“Don’t look at me, this was your idea” Jenna said with a sad laugh.

“Okay. Okay” Josh said, nervous, burying his head in his hands one more time. This was the point of no return. He raised his head, without really looking anyone in the eye. “Yeah. Tyler, my friend, is that kid who survived the Ohio Horror. He told me everything years ago. And whatever you guys think you know, whatever the police might have told you, it is just the tip of the iceberg.”

No one said anything for a second, and Josh tried to catch his breath.

“The reason I asked about how you got your information” he said finally, trying to keep his tone even “is because, first, I don’t think I need to repeat anything you already know, and second, I want to understand how much you know about the supernatural side of things. The very reason I contacted you was because not only you seemed to know way too much, but also because you clearly believe whatever paranormal shit is going on. I wanna know how and why you believe it because maybe something you have is the key to help Tyler.”

Patrick lowered his head and went extremely silent, and Pete sighed. Josh had been friends with Tyler for long enough to recognize when someone was so traumatized they shut down when asked to talk about something.

“We had an encounter, so to speak” Pete answered when his friend didn’t say anything. “Way back when. With a cult. And for now, let’s just say it was really bad. After that, we started looking into cases involving cults and stuff like that. Because we escaped, but we knew they were still out there. So when we bumped into the Ohio Horror story, we didn’t think much of it, until more and more similarities popped up, and we realized these were our guys. So we went as close to the source as we could, and ended up finding the detective who worked on the case. She is retired now, and she told us she retired just five years after that. She said she couldn’t deal with what happened. It haunted her for ages, and she never really overcame it. It took us a long time and lots of conversations, but finally, at some point she decided to share with us what she knew, as long as we promised not to disclose anything to the public.”

Patrick opened his bag and pulled a folder. He exchanged one more stare with Pete, who shrugged, and put the folder in the table.

“This is the folder she gave us. She explained the whole case covered a lot more folders, but this is a shorter, summarized version she was allowed to take home, as long as all the names were redacted. She let us see and eventually take it.”

“Why did she take it home?” Josh asked as Jenna pulled the folder with shaky hands.

“She told us she didn’t stop investigating, at least while she was in the force” Pete told him “She knew the cult was not over, they knew there was at least one leader out there. She wanted to catch the guy, but eventually the case was closed, and she was told to stop digging. They let her have access to the files more out of pity. Eventually she had to let go.”

“Or maybe it wasn’t pity” Jenna said to herself. She looked at the three men, all staring at her and completed her thought: “Maybe they wanted her to give up on purpose. Maybe they knew she wouldn’t really find anything.”

“She said that too” Patrick said, a little shaken. “She told us the order to stop looking into it came from above. She told us it always felt like it was supposed to protect someone. Especially since she was then, a few years later, encouraged to retire due to her declining mental health when she was barely on her 40s.”

Jenna and Josh joined their heads and opened the file. They read silently for a while, and there wasn’t much they didn’t know in there: for the first few pages, everything seemed verbatim what they found in the website, which was in turn only a glimpse of the story Tyler told them. When they reached the report that had Tyler’s account, Jenna finally spoke.

“There’s nothing in here about the promised vessel thing” she said, reaching the end of the text faster than Josh, then turning to him “Do you think he didn’t tell them? Or did they just ignore that part?”

“From what I know, he didn’t tell them” Josh said, nodding, pointing out parts of the text. “Look here… or here. He mentioned the supernatural part for them, he told me that. But you can see most of his report was kind of… driven by police questions. I mean, he was five. All that crap might seem big now, but for him it was just a Tuesday. So maybe… like, this part” he pointed another excerpt “if they asked why the bishops wanted him, he would tell they wanted to take his soul and they just changed the subject because they thought it was a child who was led to believe that crap. Can’t really blame them.”

Jenna and Josh looked up to see both Pete and Patrick had puzzled looks in their faces. Pete was the first to speak.

“Sorry” he grinned “it’s kind of… crazy to see you guys talking like that. We have been researching the subject for years, you know? It’s like, this supposed child is a bit of a legend. A myth or something like that.”

“And here you are” Patrick added “Talking about him as your friend, because, well, he is, but it’s kind of listening to someone saying ‘oh, yeah, the yeti? I had drinks with him last night, swell guy’.”

Jenna narrowed her eyes. “Are you comparing my fiancé to the yeti?” When both men stuttered, she waved a hand. “I’m messing with you, don’t sweat it. You know” she turned back to Josh “I also see no mention whatsoever to the devil’s key. This is weird, isn’t it? It is such a big part of this whole thing…”

“No, I imagined this” Josh shook his head “Tyler himself never said anything about it, as a child he didn’t make the connection. Back then no one even knew what the key was.”

“Of course” Jenna nodded “He only realized it after the tree house thing.”

“Yeah, about that” Patrick cut her “You mentioned the Devil’s key in relation to the Ohio Horror and that is what got me the most curious. Can we talk about that?”

Jenna sighed and looked at Josh again, noticing he was a little green. Josh, in turn, realized it was his turn to tell their side of the story and he did not feel ready. Jenna put a hand in his shoulder and turned to Pete and Patrick.

“I think I can tell that better. Josh heard the story in pieces over the years. I sat with Tyler for two hours last week when he told me everything.”

Jenna launched in the same story Tyler told her the week before, cutting out the parts about the inner works of the city that the men clearly knew, but also trying to leave out anything that seemed too personal or emotional, like how Tyler felt seeing his dead mother and how Blurryface got inside his head to convince him to turn himself in. She polished the story as much as she could to include only hard facts, because it felt easier not to talk about how much Tyler was affected by all of that. Even then, after she finished it, including the events of the morning he got up and didn’t seem like himself, the two men across from her seemed shaken. After a moment, Patrick simply up and left.

“He’s ok” Pete said quickly when Jenna and Josh raised their eyebrows, shocked. “I mean, he is most certainly not ok, but he does that. This is a sensitive topic.”

“No shit” Jenna scoffed, and Pete raised a hand.

“Yeah, I know, and I know you guys understand it too but…” he looked outside. Patrick was pacing back and forth in front of the diner “When we had that… encounter with this cult, we all were pretty traumatized, but Patrick was the one to get the worst of it. Me and the other guys, we only got involved to save him, and we barely made it. We, I mean, me and Joe and Andy, we are like you guys” Pete gestured between Jenna and Josh “but Patrick? He’s… our Tyler, get it?”

“What exactly… happened to him?” Josh asked. Pete hesitated and, before he said anything, Patrick rushed back in and sat down again.

“Okay, clearly those are the same guys” Patrick said to Pete as if he was continuing a conversation “But this, along with everything we gathered before…”

“Plus the key” Pete nodded, also seeming to continue a random conversation.

“Plus the key” Patrick agreed “This is like, escalating on a ridiculous rate. And sure, maybe they had everything planned, but what was the end goal? What _is_ the end goal? I get what it looks like on a mortal perspective, but what is the entities’ endgame?”

“I still think we need to keep focused on the mortal perspective here, dude” Pete answered “because that’s what affects us all right now. But sure, supernaturally, I’m getting a little confused too.”

“Wow, so we are all confused” Jenna said, smiling. The two men realized at the same time Josh and Jenna seemed lost.

“So” Pete started “we have been tracking cults like that all over the world for a long time, and then we realized the people we were looking for were mostly in the United States. We tracked down these groups that at first sight seemed like different cults in different places, and upon closer inspection, we realized they were the same group, separated in cells. Eight cells, specifically, so far.”

“Eight bishops supposedly died in Dema” Josh said quietly, and Patrick nodded.

“Precisely what we thought” he said quickly, pulling another file from his bag and flipping through it “You see, once we realized the cult we were looking for and the cult from the Ohio case were the same, we had to review everything we gathered so far about all these different cults that seemed unrelated, and in the end we had these eight separate cells that seemed to connect. Of course, that brought up another question, because once we knew the full story, we also knew there were actually nine bishops. And sure, if you believe the official version, that one guy who escaped would probably be dead by now and another cell of the cult wouldn’t even exist. Except we know the paranormal world does not work like that, and that cults don’t work like that.”

“Of course, we all know that” Josh said with a sarcastic tone.

“Well, trust us on that” Patrick continued without missing a beat “So we knew we had to look for a ninth cell. And we had a lot of trouble trying to find it, because you see, some cults are all about exposure. Some cults are all about luring new members in, these are usually schemers of course, that thrive on the idea that more members mean more people giving their money to a cause, so they don’t exactly hide. Certain cults don’t hide either, since they have some sort of message to spread, so they try to communicate this message to a world, they believe, needs that message as to not go to hell, but they are not advertising either. And then, there are cults that are completely off the radar. These are the ones that are really concerning. Because if they feel like they need to hide, is because they know they are shady. And our dear friends are clearly this last type.”

“Dema was hidden for years in the middle of the woods and no one had any idea” Jenna said, nodding to herself.

“Yes, exactly” Pete agreed “so it was really hard to track them down for a while.”

“Even though we already knew how they operate in general, it took us a long time to realize where they would be” Patrick cut him, clearly excited to finally talk about all of that with someone other than his friends “and it was important because the child’s… well, Tyler’s statement mentioned that this bishop that escaped was supposedly the leader. So finally, last week, we realized. They’re here. They are in L.A.”

Josh and Jenna jerked back in synch while Patrick smiled with satisfaction. He knew he seemed a little crazy, smiling while they looked so scared, but the satisfaction of finally getting on the right track was huge.

“First of all” Pete intervened, trying to get the conversation back on track “you need to understand this specific cult. It is hard, because as we said, they are super under the radar. But they do have a way to operate.”

“I thought the city was their operation?” Josh said concerned “Having the city, to consume… people.”

“Yes and no” Pete continued “They existed in our world long before the city and still exist after it, so in a way, the city was some kind of… new project. Something they did as some sort of vacation from their usual duties. Now, from what we know, each entity has its own cell to coordinate. People gather around this entity, first an inner circle composed of eight people, usually all males, that represent the other eight entities, and these men are supposed to do whatever the entity tells them to in order to get power and money. If you join their organization because you too want power, you enter as a servant, and then a helper, but only rarely they let anyone ascend to one of these eight spots.”

“It’s a bit like a pyramid scheme” Patrick added, having returned to his meal like they were discussing the weather “people join in being promised power and money, but only higher ranks get that, and the lower ranks are stuck with them. Except that, in a pyramid scheme, if you don’t ascend to a higher rank, you get stuck with a bunch of crappy products. In the cult, your failure to ascend might cost your soul.”

“But what do the entities want?” Jenna asked, uncomfortable.

“That we don’t really know” Pete said, shrugging “Of course they have an endgame, and we could guess that’s world domination, but surely, it’s got to be something more specific. For now, what we know is that people deliver them souls for consumption, and suddenly their lives get easier. Big promotions, new cars, new lovers. Like the universe conspires in their favor. And I know, it sounds… vague.” When Josh and Jenna both nodded, he waved a hand towards the file in front of him “There are details and specifications that we found, but I’m giving you the summarized version. And we can track this happening for a long time in history, in several places in the world, until some sort of gap that lasted about eighty years, and then they seemed to start it again, concentrating in the US, about twenty years ago.”

“You’re saying this gap was the city?” Josh asked.

“It seems like it. Now, there is a legend, it has been around for a long time, that there is a way to control these entities. Well, to control their leader, which would control the others. That seems to be the Devil’s Key.”

Pete stopped talking, expecting a reaction, but both Josh and Jenna seemed lost in thought, Jenna biting her nails and Josh staring at his hands over the table.

“How…” Josh started in a weak voice, then he cleared his throat and tried again “How do you know they are here?”

“Yes, that” Patrick said quickly, energized again, pushing his plate to the side and going through the file in the table. “We weren’t sure at first. We had some suspicions, based on prominent people who got too much power too fast.”

“Which describes half of Hollywood alone” Josh said raising his eyebrows.

“Hence our problem to figure it out” Pete said, “We narrowed a few down, but it was still a long list.”

“Until” Patrick cut him, raising a finger when he finally reached the page he wanted “Last week, the day after you called me, this happened” he turned the file towards them. The page was printed off a news site, and the headline mentioned a gruesome car crash that killed a music producer. Both Josh and Jenna heard about it on the news, so they just shrugged, confused. Patrick explained: “This dude, this music producer was one of the people very high up on our list. He died last week suddenly, and it seems like a random car crash, right?” When Josh and Jenna nodded, he pointed out the text “Except that there was another victim on the supposed car accident. A young woman. The article only mentions it in passing, so we went looking for it.” He made a motion to turn the page, then stopped himself “Just a heads up, it’s kind of gross.”

When he turned the page, Jenna gasped, and Josh felt the coffee in his stomach turning around. The next page was an autopsy report, complete with the picture of a white young woman whose head was clearly not attached to the body.

“They said this is the other victim, and don’t ask how we got this report” Pete said, his tone so casual no one would believe he had the photo of a beheading in front of him “And the story goes that the crash was so brutal the music producer had a shard of metal go through him and this girl had her head literally cut off. Which, even if you believed could be possible somehow, does not explain how clean the cut is. You can see by the picture…”

“I believe you” Jenna said, looking anywhere but the picture in front of her. Josh said nothing, looking a little green.

“Anyway, another little detail no one seems to mention about this case” Patrick said, quickly turning the page for their relief, and showing them another news article printed from a website “is that the supposed accident happened just a few miles away from a beach area. Now, the night of the accident, coincidentally every house and business in a ten mile radius was cleared because a massive gas leak, according to the Energy department of LA” he gestured to the article “and the next day, they just declared the area secure, with no further explanation. Like they just needed the area clear for that particular night.”

“And one more side fact that, again, don’t ask us how we know” Pete complemented “The family of that girl who died said they did find some inconsistencies in the report, but they ignored it because they were very distraught and grieving, and then the dude’s music label showed up and before the family had a chance to sue anyone for the guy supposedly drunk driving, they offered them a very big settlement of a few million dollars that let’s say for sure damped any doubts they previously had.”

“That is horrifying” Josh said with his eyebrows raised “But what does that has to do with the cult?”

“Glad you asked” Patrick said, with no humor whatsoever to indicate that he was really glad “We have discovered a long time ago that the ascension to the inner circle involves a sacrifice where the… candidate must cut a victim’s head off so the bishops can consume their soul.”

Jenna felt so nauseated her body jerked in a strange way, but she didn’t say anything.

“So we have two theories for that” Pete said calmly, and both Josh and Jenna were hoping he would stop talking about all of that “One, someone earned the right to get the music producer’s spot in the inner circle, killed him, because in this situation it would be allowed, and killed the girl as a sacrifice, or two, and this is the most likely… whoever took the key in Australia is here and belongs to this cell. The key would grant them a unique position inside the cult. They wouldn’t have to earn one of the eight seats. Since they control the bishop, they would rule alongside him, like a… co-president of sorts. In this case, they have the ninth seat, they killed the girl as a sacrifice for a formality and the music producer was either really an accident, or this person got rid of him for being a detractor.”

The table was silent for a while. Josh had his head in his hands, wondering how worse the situation could get. Pete and Patrick were trying to give them some space.

Jenna on the other hand was staring at the floor, with a killer headache. She was getting that horrible feeling again. She remembered the day she met Sarah. _Is your fiancé a musician? My boyfriend works with a music label_. Jenna was not sure why the thought was back in her head, but the weird feeling of too much coincidence was back and it was making her a little paranoid again. Sarah said the guy was not one of the big shots and certainly he was not dead since Sarah kept bringing him up constantly, but it still seemed odd. _I can’t share this. I’m gonna sound even more insane. And I don’t know if this has anything to do with it. I might be throwing Sarah under the bus for nothing_.

“Ok” Josh said suddenly with determination, startling the other three. “How can we help Tyler? Objectively?”

Pete and Patrick exchanged a concerned look.

“We’re not sure. Listen” Patrick said quickly when Josh seemed suddenly enraged “We never promised to know everything, and now, we have a new addition to the story that we never knew about. The key changes everything. But it gives us more perspective of what is actually happening. We still don’t get what exactly they want the key for, what is the ultimate goal with it. We don’t understand what the entities get out of this. But we do know something, at least: whoever took the key is using it to control the bishop…”

“Blurryface” Josh and Jenna said in unison. When Pete and Patrick seemed confused, Josh shrugged “It’s what Ty calls him, the bishop that wanted to take his body, he calls him Blurryface. He doesn’t call him by his actual name, never.”

“Sure, Blurryface” Patrick continued “This person is using the key to control him, which is why he wants Tyler. If the bishop escaped Dema over twenty years ago, he is real fucking old right now. So whatever they need him for, they must need him in a new body.”

“Oh my god” Jenna whispered, covering her mouth for a moment. “If that’s the case, it’s over. This… person, they have his name, they know where he lives!”

“Ok, yeah” Pete responded, seeming unphased “about that, I was thinking. You told us they have his name and address. How long ago was it, a week?” When Jenna nodded, Pete frowned “Why haven’t they done anything yet? Did anything else happen in the meantime?”

“No” Jenna said, now equally intrigued. She didn’t think about that. “He kind of… sits in bed with his eyes open, his pupils red, but usually he doesn’t say anything.”

“Usually?” Patrick asked, rubbing his chin like a detective “So he does say something sometimes, right?”

Jenna shrugged “He talked once or twice. And he only said ‘Rosie’. I have no idea what it means and, if he wasn’t clearly… possessed or whatever, I would be jealous.”

Pete gave her a sad smile. “The dead girl. Her name is Rose. Her family calls her Rosie.”

They were all silent again, Josh and Jenna still horrified, but Pete was staring at Patrick, who seemed to be lost in thought. Finally, he sighed.

“Here’s my theory” Patrick said, focused but not looking at anyone in particular. “Taking into consideration what you told us, and what I learned about the cult and the Devil’s key with research. First of all, there was always a rumor that the thing to control the bishops was the same thing that brought them into this world. It makes sense to be the Devil’s Key, because originally, when it was found, it was said the key could open the gates of hell. But why would they want it open if they can be shoved back inside? I have no idea. There’s obviously more than that to it. But the person who stole the key in the first place, whatever his goal is, either to open the gates or  to maintain the status quo – which for me seems unlikely, since he did go through the trouble of stealing the key in the first place – he needs Tyler for that. Whatever he wants the bishop to do, that dude is way to old at this point to be able to withstand any kind of effort, no matter how much supernatural energy he employs to stay alive. He’s at the end of his rope.”

“Can’t we…” Jenna started, carefully. With all eyes on her, she shrunk in her seat, but still managed to say what she needed to. “Can’t we like… wait for him to die? Or… I don’t know… kill him? It’s not like he’s really human anymore.”

Josh, knowing Jenna’s nature, was staring at her in shock with the suggestion. Not that he hadn’t thought the same thing before – but he didn’t expect Jenna to come to that point. She should be really scared. Pete and Patrick, however, seemed pitiful.

“It wouldn’t work, probably” Pete said gently “If we kill the body, and sure, the body is human even if the soul that was originally inside is long gone, we might expel the entity, but there is a very big chance it would only leave and possess a new host, and eventually get to Tyler, and stay in there.”

“That’s a no, then” Jenna mumbled.

“The only way to get rid of them for good, in theory” Patrick said, staring into the distance “would be if Tyler had the key, since he is the so-called promised vessel, and used it, yes, to open the gates, and then managed to get all the entities back in there. And then kept guard of the gate just in case as well.”

“Wait” Josh said, shocked “Do you mean… do you mean Tyler could have solved the problem all those years ago, when he had the key in the first place?”

Patrick was already shaking his head halfway his sentence. “Technically, yeah, but obviously he wouldn’t because he had no idea. His mother probably didn’t either. From what you told us and from what we read in the copy of her letter in that file, she didn’t seem to understand what the key was. She did say something about robbing them of something important, but we, and I’m guessing the police, presumed she was speaking broadly about bringing them down. So I think she just knew the key was sacred to them or maybe she even knew it controlled them, but I’m pretty sure if she knew Tyler could use it to banish them back to hell, she would have told him, even if he didn’t understand at the time.”

“She should have known better, though” Josh said, suddenly angry at the woman. He knew it was not fair, but he didn’t want to know. He needed someone to be angry at and Blurryface didn’t seem to be enough.

“Look” Patrick said, trying to calm the spirits “If this guy got Tyler’s name and address a week ago and didn’t do anything so far, we might have some time. Not a lot, but some. From what I’m getting, he got Tyler’s name that morning and the next day the music producer was dead, and so was the girl. So maybe…” he trailed off for a moment, thinking, then proceeded “… I think he got the name just to… show what he could do, probably. Then sure, he killed those people as a way to be accepted into the inner circle, and what he must be doing now is… settling with his new life, I guess. I think we might have a few days, but we need to be alert. And more than anything, Tyler needs to be alert. That guy is probably going to try to approach him any time now, and it’s for sure not going to be in an obvious way.”

Jenna had a strange look that was concerning Josh. She was staring at the menu dropped in the middle of the table, almost without blinking.

“Is it possible” she said in a voice so low the men around her leaned in to listen “that they use the dead guy’s music label for that?” She looked up to Patrick and Pete. “I mean, he’s a musician.”

Pete and Patrick faces suggested they were mindblown. Josh was still lost.

“That is… actually very possible” Pete said carefully, clearly impressed with where her mind went “His assets will most likely go to someone inside the society. It’s very likely they might use it to approach him.”

Jenna didn’t answer and simply stared at the table.

“Do you have something in mind?” Josh asked, suspicious.

 _Is your fiancé a musician? My boyfriend works with a music label_.

“No. It’s probably nothing.” Jenna bit her lip, not sure what to think. Maybe it was a stretch. But the fact that she met the girlfriend of someone in the music industry right after all that started was messing with her, especially with the news about the music producer who died. She could be projecting too much, and she was sure that Sarah knew nothing about it – she seemed more interested in Jenna’s wedding ideas than on Tyler’s career, that she never brought up after their first conversation, and Jenna had a gut feeling Sarah was trustworthy. She was never wrong with that kind of thing. But maybe Sarah was being played? Jenna decided not to say any of that until she was sure of something.

“Are you sure?” Josh insisted “This look in your face is the same Tyler has when he hears someone thinking shit and doesn’t wanna share.”

“Speaking of which” Jenna turned suddenly, surprising Josh “How did you manage to hide this meeting from him? I can’t hide anything from him usually, and this past week he is being annoyingly accurate with every single thought I have. I think he even knows I see him waking up every night, he just won’t talk about it.”

Josh shifted in his seat. “I didn’t see or talk to him often this past week. We mostly texted, and he did noticed something but I think he can’t really see much into my head via text. Also we agreed a long time ago that was not very polite of him to know everything I think, I need some privacy. You should really talk to him about it.”

The two laughed, but Pete and Patrick were exchanging another look. Josh was starting to get anxious every time they did that.

“How much…” Patrick started. He took a moment to rethink the words. “How strong are his powers?”

Josh and Jenna stared at each other, baffled for the same reason. The word “powers”. Even Jenna, knowing the whole thing for just a few days, never thought that Tyler had powers. None of them did. He just… knew stuff. And could talk into people’s heads. And every now and then, he was overtaken by a supernatural force that made him act against his own will and not even remember it later. But calling it powers, that would make things… serious.

“I think… he always did this stuff.” Josh shrugged. “He’s not… Carrie or anything. He just knows things. And… yeah, sometimes he says stuff without really talking but…”

“But it is stronger these past few days” Jenna cut him without really meaning to. “Or maybe it’s just because that, now that I know, he doesn’t contain himself. But half of our conversations are like that now. If he is distracted, especially, he answers me before I have a chance to ask anything, and every now and then I hear him saying something, or singing something, and I turn around and he is not talking. It’s not even weird, actually. It’s…”

“The new normal” Josh completed for her. Jenna nodded, smiling at him sadly. He smiled too. Of course, this was why she wanted so much to talk to him after all: they were the only people who truly could understand how it felt being around Tyler now.

Pete and Patrick allowed them a moment to gather their thoughts, but both knew it couldn’t last. Finally, Patrick sighed.

“Well, maybe it’s time to stop avoiding him then” he said calmly. Josh stopped smiling and lowered his head, and Jenna seemed sad, putting a hand gently on his shoulder. Patrick continued. “We need to talk to him. I might not know for sure how we are going to help him and bring those bastards down, but we need to try. They have a power no person should ever have. We need to do something. We need to stop them, and we need your friend to be on board for us to have a chance at saving him. We need Tyler to know.”

Josh nodded sadly. He knew he was the one who had to do it, because it was his idea in the first place, and he already had dragged Jenna into this.

“Ok. I will.” Josh said quietly. “I’ll find a way to break this to him. Then we can go… stop the apocalypse, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just fyi im not american i have a hard time understanding american rituals like places to eat and what to eat in each meal so yeah


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